Dwayne Johnson’s $217M Homage to Martial Arts Legend Bruce Lee Proves He’s a Huge Fan

Dwayne Johnson’s films have all exploited the comedy-action star’s larger-than-life personality and domineering physical presence as a means to achieve an effect on the silver screen that can immediately draw in a crowd, irrespective of the demography. His films have garnered widespread praise and acclaim over the years for their ability to turn out such incredible profits at the box office and it is not without some talent that The Rock has been able to climb to the topmost levels of fame, stardom, and celebrity adulation from his fans all over the globe.

Insomuch, it is rare and often incomprehensible for such a public figure to display his fanboy crush on a separate and beloved artist. As it so happens, for Dwayne Johnson, none other than Bruce Lee himself can hold that level of sway and influence over him.
The Rock and Kevin Hart on Central Intelligence

Dwayne Johnson Shows His Praise For Legendary Bruce Lee

One of the first few films to bring out Dwayne Johnson’s serious comedic timing mixed with impressive action chops on-screen was 2016’s spy action comedy, Central Intelligence. Starring beside Kevin Hart, the film not only made Hart and Johnson a fan-favorite duo (and themselves became best friends leading to numerous epic collaborations) but also served as a first of a string of irrefutable successes in the industry for the former pre-wrestler.
Central Intelligence (2016)
The film, directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, witnesses Dwayne Johnson’s Bob Stone as a CIA agent on an adventure with his childhood protector and high-school classmate (played by Kevin Hart). While encountering bullies along the way, the character displays incredible prowess over the two-inch punch – a hat tip to the move made famous by the Wing Chun master, Bruce Lee. Moreover, Johnson’s costume which portrayed a pair of yellow and black sneakers is also a homage to the late 70s actor.

Central Intelligence Holds Key to Dwayne Johnson’s Success

For a long time, The Rock’s extraordinary rise had been treated like an event from Nolan’s Inception – where his rise happens like a dream, not at the beginning but in the midst of unfolding events. After a bare recollection of a horrific CGI face in The Mummy Returns, Dwayne Johnson suddenly catapulted to the highest levels of success and stardom, starring in films like Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain and franchise phenomenons like Fast Five.

What happened in the decade in between when The Rock was not only absent from the public eye but also failed to heed industry execs’ warnings about there being no place for a physically built guy like him in today’s film and television culture? Did he simply choose not to believe that he could never fetch a leading man role and go on persevering?
Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham lead the Fast franchise spin-off in Hobbs & Shaw
As time would tell, the early years of his foray into Hollywood were truly one of the most difficult, challenging him physically as well as wringing him emotionally. Not only was he knocked down several levels after his transition from WWE fame as the People’s Champion but he was made to believe his worth was inclusive to his appearance alone and breaking his body down to the structures of a more generic actor would be the only way he could become a star.

After he proved the industry wrong with his career-defining roles in Pain & Gain and Fast Five, The Rock went on to carve out larger chunks of Hollywood by going for comedy and full-on riotous fun of a role in Central Intelligence. Here, he not only poked fun at himself and the cruel abuse suffered due to the norms of appearance but made the audience laugh at the expense of his own on-screen humiliation.

The film holds a special place in Dwayne Johnson’s filmography because it proved how far he had come since his years in the early Aughts and how gracefully he has matured through his perseverance to achieve exactly what he set out to accomplish – be the world’s most famous leading star.

Central Intelligence is available for streaming on Netflix.