Episode 162 (June 13, 2025)
The Summer of Rock begins as Laci and Matt dive into the movie career of Dwayne Johnson with his first leading role in The Scorpion King (2002).
The Rock first graced the big screen a year earlier in The Mummy Returns, in a brief prologue in which he plays a character who seemingly has nothing to do with the sturdy nice fellow he plays in Scorpion King.
And now he gets to lead a picture. And what a picture. An old-fashioned picture, you might say. One refreshingly free of irony, self-awareness, or any of the oppressive trappings of modernity. This movie’s kinda great, actually. And so is The Rock. Is it possible his career peaked with his first feature? We shall find out in the weeks and months ahead.
Time stamps:
11:28 — Our personal histories with The Scorpion King
28:20 — History segment: Brief career overview of Dwayne Johnson; development and production of The Scorpion King and the surprisingly long direct-to-video franchise it spawned
47:45 — In-depth movie discussion
1:32:00 — Final thoughts and star ratings
Sources:
The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood’s Kings of Carnage by Nick de Semlyen (2023) – https://bit.ly/4kDH4V3
“Hiding Out with Dwayne Johnson: The GQ Video Cover Story” by Zach Baron | GQ (2024) – https://bit.ly/3HB2Lq4
Review of “The Scorpion King” by Roger Ebert | The Chicago Sun-Times (2002) – https://bit.ly/3SIJ3em
Artwork by Laci Roth.
Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).
Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:
“Winston-Salem” – https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM
“Snake Drama” – https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg
“The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” – https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ
Copyright 2025 by Roth Stokes Consulting, LLC.
Laci Roth | Matt Stokes | Load Bearing Beams