anexpatabroad

“I like to use the hard times in the past to motivate me today.” Dwayne Johnson

So Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock has made a new movie, San Andreas which is released in cinemas today but the other half and I were very lucky and invited to a red-carpet private sneaky peek screening last week. The advance screening was a late night affair at Vox Cinemas in Yas Mall, with the added bonus of a live link up to Los Angeles famous Chinese Theatre with the star himself.

Who doesn’t love The Rock? This man mountain was a big hit in our house when my boys were young, back in The Rock’s WWF Wrestlemania days when he used to battle it out with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. His plastic wrestler figure was by far the most popular in our miniature sized wrestling ring and you could quite often hear his catchphrase ‘Can you smell what the Rock is cooking‘ shouted out around the house. The LA live fan event was streamed to a select handful of international theatres and both Abu Dhabi and Dubai made the cut to be part of it. Johnson maybe a seven-meal a day muscle-building beefcake but he is also a humble guy which was clear to see from the screening and his genuine interaction with fans. He appeared on the big screen at 10.30pm UAE time and hosted the live event, chatting to the in-house audience about his early life and his career, took numerous selfies and answered a Twitter Q & A posted from the fan events around the world. The live event was part of the mammoth global press junket that Johnson is currently on, travelling the world with his co-stars to promote his latest blockbuster. After he introduced the movie we sat back and enjoyed the late night non-stop exaggerated action.

As if he is not busy enough the day after the live fan event the professional wrestler turned movie star was honoured in Hollywood with his massive handprints, footprints and autograph cemented into the pavement outsides the Chinese Theatre. He added the word ‘blessed‘ to his imprint which joins hundreds of other celebrities’ who have already been immortalised there. While at the London premiere of San Andreas he set the Guinness World Record for taking the most selfies in under three minutes, taking 105 selfies with fans on the red carpet. The official record was set under the watchful eye of Guinness World Records adjudicator Mark McKinley (official selfie rules were followed that included making sure the full face and neck of the participants were visible and that the images are in focus), there’s no stopping The Rock!

*Spoiler Alert* The disaster movie follows the action as the infamous San Andreas Fault finally gives, triggering a magnitude 9 earthquake in California. As chaos descends, Johnson a search and rescue helicopter pilot and his estranged wife make their way together from Los Angeles to San Francisco to save their only daughter via helicopter, SUV, light aircraft and a speedboat! Their treacherous journey is fraught with danger at every turn as the quake destroys everything around them and even triggers a tsunami, oooh the tension! Let’s just say the script writers let their imaginations run wild and the special effects department must have been ridiculous busy! There’s even a short random cameo from Kylie Minogue and of course The Rock and his bulging biceps save the day!

San Andreas is released today in all UAE and GCC cinemas in 4DX, 3D and 2D and worldwide from tomorrow.

Visit Vox Cinemas website for more information www.voxcinemas.com

Want to see more of the buff beefcake? Follow Dwayne Johnson on Twitter and Instagram

I was invited to attend this event but all the views are all my own. Unless otherwise stated, all photos on this page © Jo Brett 2015. All rights reserved. Photo credits for grid eonline.com/guinnessworldrecords.com. Movie Poster and featured image voxcinemas.com