dwayne-johnson – Popped!

Release date: October 3, 2025 (USA)

Producers: Dwayne Johnson, Benny Safdie, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Eli Bush, David Koplan

Production companies: A24, Seven Bucks Productions, Out for the Count

MPAA rating: R

Running time: 2h 3m

Was back & forth on watching this after seeing some reviews but… I’m glad I check it out :D.

The Smashing Machine focuses on MMA fighter Mark Kerr during 1997 to 2000 as his career is going exceptionally well however, his personal life is having extreme hardships.

Mark Kerr (Played by Dwayne Johnson) & his wife Dawn Staples (Played by Emily Blunt) are solid actors. However it’s hard to watch their struggles with how uncomfortable their dynamic is. Props to them both being able to act in those bubbles. Mark Kerr’s mentor, trainer and best friend Mark Coleman (Played by Ryan Bader) is also a pioneer of this sport along with Kerr which was awesome seeing some history that kicked off what we know MMA as today.

No bashing or discredit to Dwayne Johnson – I wish his contract would allow losses. Without spoilers or anything, just speaking on his contract and the disservices it does to a movie. Not being able to lose a fight really puts a damper on what could be an awesome comeback story. (Again, not speaking on or for this movie. Just the fact that his contracts are not allowing this.) It creates a no-stakes lack of involvement when it comes to whether there’s a win / lose or close call.

I saw some mid to bad reviews on this title and to be honest it put me off watching the movie. As mentioned at the top. I’m glad I watched it. It’s nothing Oscar worthy. But if you’re into a good story a lesson in history and learning about Mark Kerr and his past. This is a good solid watch. I wouldn’t be opposed to watching it again even. But it’s not walk out bad. It’s not even bad. It’s just a good solid movie and for sure worth watching.

Popped score of 7.5 a weak 8/10 – Good solid movie worth checking out. Great performances and an entertaining story. Did you check it out or on the fence? Let us know in the comments.

P.S – Loved that this movie also took place in Japan 😀 Love Japan, made me want to go back even more!

Thanks for coming by fellow movie goers to Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Anything I missed that I need to catch up on before we dive fully into October batches of movies?

Next up will be Tron 3 followed by Roofman later in the week 😀 Super excited for Roofman and Good Fortune.

Until next batch, though, happy movie going!

Release date: November 15, 2024 (USA)

Director: Jake Kasdan

Budget: 250 million USD

Story by: Hiram Garcia

Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures, Amazon MGM Studios, Universal Pictures

Music by: Henry Jackman

Welcome, fellow moviegoers, to Popped. Blog with this week’s batch of “Reviews.” We started with A Real Pain, now for the real pain of a movie Red One.

Red One showed so much promise and yet gave it all away within the trailers. Failure from creation itself, some may find that their batch of cookies to Santa may be salvaged toward the end. However, the undercooked middle and surprised aftertaste of the first bite could put people off.

Red One opens with a younger version of our main character Jack O’Malley being played by Chris Evans. This opening scene felt like a Christmas movie before the 30 year time skip to present times.

Callum Drift (Played by Dwayne Johnson), an ELF member and bodyguard of Santa Claus is one day away from retirement as the naughty list grows each year with worse and worse adults. The magic of Christmas is waning on him but Santa reminds him that he does this job for the children that are no longer children to remember that feeling of their younger child.

Jack O’Malley, an L4 bad guy, gets into a situation where his actions result in Santa being kidnapped by an unknown group. Callum and Jack go on an adventure (which is all in the trailer) to rescue Santa and save Christmas.

The ingredients are all there. There is so much goodness behind Dwayne Johnson that he takes up 90% of the screen time. If only he gave the camera to anyone else to show off the world of the awesome creatures and characters supporting the film for 10% this could have been enjoyed more.

If you’re looking for a Christmas movie where a “failed” parent learns a lesson and does a good deed then I’d recommend seeing Elf. You feel the magic in that film and the characters all get to shine, unlike this film which finds it hard to show the creations that are forced to the back.

I hovered in the mid scores for sometime until an hour and a half where I wanted to walk out as I was done. The last 5 to 10 minutes was fun and I enjoyed the remaining good cookies in the batch as the film got to show off for a moment its creation.

Back and forth on the rating, however, I’m going with a 4/10 below average movie that may even be lower than others. This brings good news to my bottom 5 list as Abigail has been saved from ending the year in my bottom 5 by being joined by Red One.

This maybe hard for some as I’m sure many were looking forward to this title. If you enjoy the rock spreading the Christmas cheer through adult language then you may enjoy this movie. For me though I’ll be enjoying Elf and the best Christmas Pageant ever.

Thank you all for coming by Popped. Blog and I look forward to seeing you next week for 2 big doses of “Reviews” – Wicked & Gladiator 2.

Tag: dwayne-johnson

The Smashing Machine “Review”

Red One “Review”