Dwayne Johnson spent the last decade carving out an incredible legacy for himself as an actor, building his brand and reputation to become arguably the biggest name in Hollywood. He has been involved in some huge projects in his career already and has really come leaps and bounds as an actor.
When examining his already prolific filmography, the two projects that really stand out are Fast & Furious and Jumanji. These are two huge franchise names that he was a major part of for several movies and ones that he massively helped.
Within these two vastly different worlds, he played vastly different characters. However, both are extremely popular. The question is, which is Dwayne Johnson's best franchise?
10 Fast & Furious: Established Him
Prior to joining the Fast & Furious franchise, Dwayne Johnson was already a very well-known name. He had a huge fanbase from his WWE career and had been in a number of fantastic films. However, it really was his role in this franchise that shot him up to a totally new level of fame and popularity.
Because of that, this is likely going to be the franchise that is associated with Johnson the most for a long period of his life, if not forever. Thankfully, that's not a bad thing because the movies are tons of fun to watch, and he is great in them.
9 Jumanji: More Family-Friendly
While Fast & Furious does open itself up to most people, there's no doubt that the Jumanji franchise is far more family-friendly, which opens up the movies to a wider audience. While that might not seem important, it puts more eyes on Johnson as an actor and that's ultimately what it's all about.
The fact that he has the ability to appeal to children and younger audiences with fun film like the Jumanji offerings is a testament to his ability. Selling blockbuster movies with big explosions and car chases is a slightly easier job than convincing entire families your movie will be entertaining for all ages.
8 Fast & Furious: Deeper Plots
While the plots of the Fast & Furious movies are not going to be competing with Oscar-nominated style movies, they also aren't as thin as other action films. There is a level of emotion and depth within them that the characters are really able to jump into.
Jumanji certainly has that to an extent, but because of how built-up the characters and inner connections are in the Fast & Furious world, they certainly are better here. This allows Johnson to really get emerged in the stories.
7 Jumanji: Built It Up
There is no doubt that Dwayne Johnson played a big part in keeping the Fast & Furious franchise relevant and active (more on that later), but at the same time, this was an already established franchise by the time he arrived. Johnson joined for the fifth movie, which means he didn't have a direct effect in building it.
While he certainly made it much bigger than it had been previously, with Jumanji he really was part of creating the franchise. Of course, the original 1995 movie was a big hit, but this is a franchise of its own, and it's one that Johnson has played a massive part in.
6 Fast & Furious: Action Hero
One reason that the Fast & Furious franchise is Dwayne Johnson's absolute best is the fact that it is in his wheelhouse. The world of action is where he belongs and where he is best suited. Because of that, this franchise is one where he just stands out and can really excel at what he does, proving he is among the elite at this genre.
5 Jumanji: Comedic Work
While Dwayne Johnson gets to show why he was simply born to play an action hero during his role within the Fast & Furious world, he does also get a few moments in Jumanji to kick some ass. However, on top of that, in the jungle, he really gets to play around with the world of comedy.
Johnson is an incredibly charismatic man, which is something he gets from his days as a professional wrestler, and he really taps into that within the Jumanji movies. He gets to show how funny he is with his superb comedic timing, which is fantastic.
4 Fast & Furious: Took The Franchise To New Heights
Claiming one actor alone managed to take an entire film franchise to new heights isn't an easy claim to make, but in the case of Dwayne Johnson and the Fast & Furious franchise, he really did. Adding his star power helped bring totally new eyes to the franchise and helped make it relevant again.
Fast Five went on to make $626 million, which was topped by Fast 6 and then again by Fast 7, which made an unbelievable $1.5 billion worldwide. Comparing those figures to the $363 million that the fourth installment into the franchise made, and it's clear to see the impact Johnson had.
3 Jumanji: Reinvented The Franchise
While you can certainly make a case for Dwayne Johnson helping to keep the Fast & Furious franchise relevant when he joined, nothing really changed. The movies were all still similar with lots of action and high-speed car chases, but that wasn't the case for Jumanji.
Everyone loved the classic Jumanji featuring Robin Williams, and because of that, there was tons of pressure on the latest movies to live up to it. However, what Johnson and the rest of the cast brought to the films, from the idea itself to the performances, totally helped reinvent the entire franchise with a modern twist, which is incredibly impressive.
2 Fast & Furious: He Got A Spin-Off
It's hard to argue any other franchise being bigger for Dwayne Johnson than Fast & Furious considering the fact he got his own spin-off movie, Hobbs & Shaw. His character was so popular within that space, and he connected so well that he got his own movie apart from it.
That just proves how good Johnson was in this role, and a lot of that is due to how well suited he was to play the character. While the spin-off isn't his best film, it is certainly still a good one, and that only backs up the argument for the Fast & Furious franchise being his best.
1 Jumanji: More Varied Performance
Something that Dwayne Johnson often gets unfairly criticized about is that he always "plays himself." A big action hero who is all about the muscles and beating people up to save the day, likening him back to his time as a WWE superstar.
However, in Jumanji, that really isn't the case. Sure, he has big muscles and can beat people up, but he is actually playing a totally different character to himself. The two Jumanji films allow him to tap into totally new sides of his acting ability and prove just how varied he can be.
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