FORMER wrestler turned actor The Rock has successfully carved out a niche as a 21st-century action hero in films like The Scorpion King and Welcome To The Jungle.

Here, he headlines a loose remake of the 1973 Joe Don Baker crime drama of the same name, about a small-town sheriff's quest to rid his community of vice.

The new Walking Tall isn't subtle nor is it particularly pretty, with explosions of excessive violence and pyrotechnics.

However, the muscled leading man possesses a lustrous screen presence and a charisma which elevates the picture above the mundane.

Lauded Special Ops veteran Chris Vaughn (The Rock) returns home to Washington State after years of active service, hoping to settle back into small-town life and work in the local sawmill.

He is disturbed to find that the mill has closed down, drug dependency is rife among the local kids and the main business is now a sleazy casino run by his childhood pal Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough).

Chris's initial attempts to clean up the town meet fierce resistance from Jay and his goons, who use violence and intimidation to keep the newcomer in his place.

However, the good townsfolk become increasingly frustrated by their sorry lot and they elect Chris as town sheriff.

Charged with a purpose in life - to restore the neighbourhood to its former glory - Chris hires old high school pal Ray Templeton (Johnny Knoxville) to be his deputy.

Together the two lawmen spearhead a concerted effort to drive Jay out of town and bring peace back to the community, including rescuing Chris's sweetheart Deni (Ashley Scott) from the degradation of pole-dancing at the casino.

From the moment The Rock picks up his trusty wooden club and starts smashing everything in sight, Walking Tall goes through the motions.

Director Kevin Bray orchestrates some lively fight sequences, which become increasingly overblown as the movie progresses.

The Rock looks mightily impressive, taking on legions of evil henchmen almost single-handed, and he carries off the clunky dialogue with some elan.

Knoxville shrugs off his Jackass persona to essay a convincing sidekick and McDonough is pleasingly nasty.

Only the female characters are noticeably short-charged, some of them barely two-dimensional, pushed rudely into the background while the boys go on the rampage.

Rating: 5/10