The next time Dwayne The Rock Johnson hosts Saturday Night Live, hell join the illustrious Five-Timers Club, a swanky association of hosting all-stars that includes Alec Baldwin, John Goodman, Justin Timberlake, and Drew Barrymore (she first hosted when she was just seven, remember that?). While its not shocking that Johnson is bound for such an honor, it is surprising how quickly the action star has gone from SNL newbie to slam-dunk host he first hosted the show in 2000, back when he was still known simply as The Rock building up his own repertoire of recurring characters along the way.
When it comes to SNL, its easy to smell what The Rock is cooking: its an excellent show.
For his fourth outing, Johnson employed his biggest weapons, including high voltage charm, an endearing ability to poke fun at himself, and an almost inhuman capacity for holding character. Oh, and his arms, chest, and lower regions. Those were also very present this time around (much to the pleasure of Kate McKinnon and some particularly jovial members of the audience). When an SNL host is good really good its easy to muse that they should just join the cast, but every time Johnson turns up to shepherd a show, its impossible to not dream of a world where hes a regular cast member. After all, they dont call him franchise Viagra for nothing.
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The Rock Obama Cold Open
The Rock Obama is one of Johnsons mainstays whenever he hosts the show and, sometimes, when other people host it, too! making an appearance by his glorious mash-up of President Obama and The Hulk feel all but guaranteed. Kudos to the SNL team for giving the people what they wanted right off the bat, opening up the show with a host-led sketch (a relative rarity) that didnt pull any punches when it came to deflating some current political issues (something the show has struggled with over recent seasons, and finally seems ready to address).
As ever, The Rock Obama is very mad, this time about Israel and a pack of disruptive Republican congressmen including Taran Killam as a terrified, yet somehow not orange enough John Boehner and hes not going to take it anymore. Johnson has long managed to make this sketch feel equal parts timely and funny, and his ability to sound like both Obama and the actual Hulk while ripping other cast members limb from limb is perhaps the greatest argument yet that the man deserves an Emmy.
Still, this recurring sketch was pumped up by something by something unexpected: the introduction of Leslie Jones as She-Rock Obama, as our own First Lady suddenly goes from mild-mannered and calm (and played by Sasheer Zamata) to pissed enough to rip open a tasteful shift dress. Talk about a power couple.
New Disney Movie
If there was a running theme to last nights show, it was Dwayne Johnson is entertaining and will make any kind of entertainment offering you possibly have available better just by walking around in the background or something (hey, we dont make these themes, we just report them). Put in sassier, snazzier terms, he really is franchise Viagra, and although Johnson addressed that handy nickname/career designation during the shows jazzy monologue, putting it into literal action proved to be the far funnier choice.
Riffing on both Disneys love for turning their classic animated tales into live-action outings (from Maleficent to Cinderella and now, somehow, Dumbo), SNL imagines what a new spin on Bambi would look like, starring Johnson and his Fast and Furious brethren. Bolstered by the appearance of a muttering, perhaps catatonic Taran Killam as Vin Diesel as Thumper, and Jay Pharoah pulling double duty as both a constantly screaming Tyrese-Gibson-as-Flower and forest-trilling Ludacris (the song is called Wham, Bam, Bambi, and you love it now), it was easily the best sketch of the night. (Its also not hard to imagine that theres at least one executive over at Disney that watched this sketch and couldnt help but think, hey, this isnt half bad).
Improv Show
Thanks to this seasons choppy filming schedule, Saturday Night Live almost missed out on commenting on HBOs latest game-changing offering, the documentary series The Jinx, which allowed regular people to confidently announce, that guy is a murderer! while watching from the safety of their own home. Although the framework of this sketch isnt the best its always nice to see comedians skewer the mechanics of improv, but theres got to be a better way to approach this material its all just window-dressing for the main event: Kate McKinnon as accused murderer Robert Durst.
McKinnon is currently the most skilled impersonator on the show (sorry, Jay Pharoahs Kanye, sorry, Vanessa Bayers Miley Cyrus, but lets just be honest here), and although her newly minted Hillary Clinton turn could use some shine, her work as Durst is so spot-on as to be actually kind of terrifying. From the dead stare to the prolonged blinking to the slouchy posture, McKinnon killed this one (of course).