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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.
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.
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
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.
047
Johnson in
Journey 2:The Mysterious
Island
and
Race toWitch Mountain
.
But which isWitch?