The Rock's action films, ranked

You can be forgiven for not even remembering "Empire State." The 2013 release didn’t get a theater release in the United States, being relegated to the realm of the straight-to-DVD movie. That’s despite the fact the movie stars The Rock as a cop alongside Liam Hemsworth. Even though Johnson was already a star by this point, the production company probably knew they had a turkey on their hands. Some movies are best forgotten.

Most movies based on video games kind of suck. "Doom" was not the exception to that rule. Even though it featured Johnson with a gigantic gun taking on monsters, the film was a dud, even for fans of the "Doom" games.

Perhaps the epitome of Netflix saying, "Hey, look! Stars!" and not bringing anything else to the table. The streaming service could highlight the fact this movie stars Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot. They didn't bother doing anything else with it, though. "Red Notice" is also the epitome of Netflix mediocrity.

Johnson finally made his way into the superhero universe. He had his DC superhero in Black Adam. The dude did his level best to get people hyped for "Black Adam." Then, the movie arrived, and, well, it was a total snooze. Even by the standards of the hit-or-miss DC universe, it was not all that good. This could be the end of Black Adam, which was surely not the intent.

Even though this sequel to "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra" added Johnson and Bruce Willis, it didn’t make the film all that much better. Though it did well at the box office, The Rock, Willis, and Channing Tatum will do that for you. It has a 29 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Johnson played Roadblock, who is known for wielding giant weapons. Kind of like his "Doom"  character.

The original "Walking Tall" from 1973 featured Joe Don Baker as a Southern sheriff cleaning up his town by force, including using a wooden club to smash illegal gambling rooms and — on occasion — bad guys. It seemed like a role that would have been perfect for The Rock in 2004 when he was still new to acting. Plus, the racial implications of a guy like Johnson being a sheriff in the South could have spruced up the story. Instead, they moved the action to Washington and made a mediocre film.

"Faster" comes from the genre of “movies where The Rock looks all buff and holds a gun, but nobody remembers anything about the plot.” Johnson plays “Driver,” a criminal who is out for vengeance because he never plays bad guys. Billy Bob Thornton is the bad guy instead. It’s forgettable, but that’s better than unforgivable.

They just can’t figure out how to make a good (live-action) Hercules movie. Even The Rock couldn’t make it work. To be fair, he was being directed by uber-hack Brett Ratner. Even somebody as charismatic as the former Rocky Maivia can only carry a movie so far.

The cast of "Snitch" is pretty impressive. In addition to Johnson, there’s Barry Pepper, Susan Sarandon, Jon Bernthal, Michael Kenneth Williams, and David Harbour. That cast could make a great movie. This is not such a film, though. It’s a passable action flick, but its 56 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes feels fair.

Here we have another video game movie, even though "Rampage" the movie and "Rampage" the game barely have anything in common. However, this film does have a giant gorilla and a wolf that can fly. It’s crazy, but in a way, that’s dumb and fun—a classic airplane movie.

With no disrespect meant, Johnson is an actor that doesn’t seem terribly picky about the roles he takes. The same is true for Michael Caine, so it was only a matter of time before they ended up in the same movie. "Journey to the Center of the Earth" was totally unremarkable, but "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" improved upon it. Maybe that’s because it had Luis Guzman flicking berries off The Rock’s pecs. How many movies can say that?

This was Johnson’s first film, when he was still only really known as The Rock, and also a rare villainous turn. Unfortunately, his role as The Scorpion King is mostly remembered for the terrible CGI. Nevertheless, he must have made a good impression, given where his career went from this point going forward. As for "The Mummy Returns," it’s fine.

There are four movies in this franchise on this list. You might have realized "The Fate, and the Furious" is the first one that has popped up. That might be because it’s the eighth film from the series. There was bound to be diminishing returns at some point.

It’s Johnson versus an earthquake, and Johnson wins! Well, sort of. He manages to save some people, including his daughter and estranged wife. Disaster films rarely transcend the limits of genre filmmaking, and "San Andreas" is no different. It’s a decent and semi-exciting offering.

"Pain & Gain" is a tricky film. It’s directed by Michael Bay, but it’s also something of a parody of Michael Bay movies. There actually seems to be a satirical edge to it, but Bay is not qualified to really do satire. On the other hand, Johnson and Mark Wahlberg seemed to know what they were doing. Any success the movie has is on the shoulders of the cast.

Disney's decision to turn another ride into a movie didn't hit quite like "Pirates of the Caribbean." That being said, "Jungle Cruise" is solid! Emily Blunt and Johnson are a decent pairing, and Paul Giamatti is having fun chewing the scenery. Of course, "better than expected" and "genuinely good" are two different things.

"Get Smart" is an underrated movie. It doesn’t live up to the quality of the TV show — it’s sillier and broader — but it’s actually pretty funny. Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway are great choices for Maxwell Smart and 99. Johnson plays Agent 23, another agent at CONTROL who plays a key role in the climax of the film.

The reboot (which appears later on this list) of "Jumanji" was a huge, unexpected hit. Naturally, a sequel was quickly brought to the table. This time, there are more characters, both in the real world and in the game. Johnson and Kevin Hart seem a little too focused on doing "old guy" voices, which dominates a lot of the comedy, which makes this one a bit of a step-down.

It can be hard to differentiate which film is which in the "Fast and Furious" series. They mostly blend together. This is the one where Johnson’s Agent Hobbs recruits Vin Diesel’s crew to take down the villainous Owen Shaw. There are some solid action set pieces and The Rock out-charismas Diesel with ease. Basically, it delivers what people expect from the series.

This is the first of the "Fast" films to feature The Rock’s character. "Fast Five" is where the series really shifted from being about street racing to being about heists and international intrigue. It’s kind of dumb, but the set pieces in this one are particularly good—credit the Brazilian landscape for that, plus solid directing by Justin Lin.

Basically, Johnson and Vin Diesel refused to work together any longer. That led to Hobbs being spun off into his own film, now a mismatched pairing with Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw. The movie is tied to the "Fast and the Furious" franchise but definitely feels like its own thing. People tend to either think it is one of the best movies in that world, or one of the worst. We lean toward the former.

"The Rundown" is almost a time capsule of the year 2003. Johnson is billed solely as The Rock on the movie’s poster. Seann William Scott is his co-lead. All that being said, this is a good movie. There’s some decent comedy, and a lot of fun action in the Brazilian jungle. Apparently, Brazil is a winning element for The Rock’s films. Also jungles, which we will get back to shortly.

The general consensus is that "Furious 7" is the best of the series. It has an 80 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences also loved it. The movie made over $1.5 billion at the box office. Yes, this is the one where Hobbs flexes out of a cast. It’s awesome

The idea of a "Jumanji" sequel was a puzzler on the surface. It came out 22 years after the original, which was about a haunted board game, and "Jumanji" star Robin Williams was no longer with us to appear in "Welcome to the Jungle." Fortunately, there are still surprises for us out there in the world of film. Johnson combined with Jack Black, Karen Gillan, and Kevin Hart to bring us a fresh, funny, and genuinely exciting sequel that both paid homage to the original and built on it. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait another two decades for another sequel.