STACK #126 Apr 2016

FAST & FURIOUS 7 Inevitably, the shadow of Paul Walker’s death in 2013 will hang over this latest installment of the franchise, which promises to be even more over the top, with car skydiving and more aerial acrobatics amongst the skyscrapers of Dubai. You will believe a car can fly. Former fright master James Wan ( The Conjuring ) is in the driver’s seat this time, and Johnson is back as Hobbs, seen plummeting from a high rise window onto a car below – and surviving – in the trailer. The Stath is the bad guy this time; is the FF franchise becoming the next Expendables ? Start your engines on April 2 and speed to your nearest multiplex.

his tough guy image – and alienated his wrestling fanbase – but the stoic star managed to escape with his reputation and dignity intact. A supporting role in the Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg buddy-cop comedy The Other Guys (2010) saw Johnson literally back in action, despite his character being killed off early in a high speed pursuit, so as not to steal scenes from the leads perhaps? Johnson was now only one film away from a role in one of the biggest action franchises on the planet, but before he got ‘Furious’, he played a vengeful ex-con named Driver in Faster (2010). At last, Johnson was back in full throttle action mode, and things were only going to get, well, faster for the big guy. A bald, buffed and bearded Johnson joined Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and the FF gang in Fast & Furious 5 (2011), as their Federal nemesis Agent Hobbs – a character the actor describes as “the government’s version of the best bounty hunter on the planet”. Hobbs was originally tagged for Tommy Lee Jones, until a Facebook fan suggested that Diesel and Dwayne should team-up. Needless to say it was a great idea and Johnson threw himself into the FF universe with the velocity of an airborne Pontiac GTO, guaranteeing Hobbs’s return in the next installment. With his action credentials renewed, Johnson’s next film was, er, another family- friendly adventure. But he did find himself in the esteemed company of the great Michael Caine in Journey 2:The Mysterious Island (2012), an awful, CGI-laden sequel to 2008’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth , with Johnson filling in for the absent Brendan Fraser as Josh Hutcherson’s stepfather. Next was a rare dramatic role in the inspired- by-a-true-story thriller Snitch (2013), playing a dad who cuts a dangerous deal with the DEA to reduce his son’s prison sentence. The actor

Johnson in Journey 2:The Mysterious Island and Race toWitch Mountain . But which isWitch?

remained stony-faced throughout, in a part that would nowadays go to Liam Neeson. A character named Roadblock in a movie called G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) had Johnson’s name written all over it (albeit sharing top billing with Bruce Willis and Channing Tatum) and he once again proved a welcome addition to an action franchise, even if it wasn’t as good as the first film. Test audiences had the final word, reportedly wanting more scenes between Tatum and Johnson; reshoots were promptly ordered. Johnson then joined Liam Hemsworth in urban specialist Dito Montiel’s Empire State (2013), but was underused as an NYPD detective out to foil Hemsworth’s scheme to rip off an armoured car company. For his role as a ‘roid-riddled, coke-snorting, Jesus-loving meathead in Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain (2013), the actor added 300 pounds to his already massive physique in a transformation worthy of another Bay movie. The same year, Federal Agent Hobbs returned in Fast & Furious 6 (2013), this time on the trail of a British bad guy building a superweapon, and enlisting the help of Diesel and co. in return for a full pardon for their past crimes. Now a legitimate part of the FF formula, Hobbs will be back in the hotly anticipated Fast & Furious 7 – in cinemas everywhere on April 2. Following in the sandalled footsteps of Steve Reeves, Lou Ferrigno and Kevin Sorbo, Johnson brought hulking Greek demigod Hercules (2014) to life in Brett Ratner’s recent reboot, fulfilling his longtime dream to play the part. And like the Scorpion King, it was a physical role that required intense preparation. “I trained and worked harder than ever for eight months for this role... to completely transform into this character,” he revealed in an Instagram post. “Not only would I do it again... I’d do it f–ing twice!” He also revealed on a US morning talk show that he wore a beard made from yak testicle hair (!) when playing Herc – we really hope he was being serious.

SAN ANDREAS In what looks to be an unofficial, mega-budget remake of 1974 disaster movie Earthquake , this 3D CGI spectacle stars Johnson as a rescue- helicopter pilot who must retrieve his estranged daughter from San Francisco following the destruction of LA. Despite the US setting, principal photography took place in Queensland. The earth will move for you, too, in cinemas everywhere on May 28.

047