Rampage is an adaptation of the classic arcade game of the same name. It features Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as a primate specialist who works at the San Diego Zoo. When a dangerous chemical that modifies genetic information crash lands on Earth, it’s up to The Rock to save the day. The film is directed by Brad Peyton, who is also responsible for films like San Andreas. If you’ve seen San Andreas, you have a pretty decent idea of what you’re getting yourself into.
There are many issues with Rampage, from the script to the acting, but the movie seems to know that. Throughout the almost two hour runtime, the film never takes itself too seriously. Characters universally have paper thin motivations, almost every problem is solved by deus ex machina, and it’s hard to form any sort of bond with the characters.
The story is also paper thin. Without giving too much away, there’s a shady company that has been experimenting on animals and disregarding all sorts of safety precautions and ethics. At the head of this company are two antagonists who are as annoying as they are stupid. When their experiment effects Davis’ (Dwyane Johnson) favorite ape George, he’s pulled into a scenario involving massive hybrid animals who want nothing more than to destroy the city of Chicago. The villains are consistently cheesy and barely resemble human beings. The same can be said for most of “good guys” as well, with really only Davis getting some decent backstory. There are attempts to flesh out other characters, but most of this is delegated to a simple line of dialogue and then never spoken about again. Bottom line, nearly every character in this movie is written with the personality and motivations of a wooden board.
The cast does their best with the shoddy script, with standout performances coming from Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Harvey Russell and Dwyane Johnson as Davis. One of the main characters, Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris), gets minimal amounts of character building, essentially making her the de facto sidekick and love interest. The most notable character is Russell, and while the trailers might make him seem like the main antagonist, he’s more of a fun side character. Russel is larger than life and Jeffrey Dean Morgan really puts it on for the camera. He steals nearly every scene, with his over-the-top machismo and snarky attitude. Although the characterization is likable, it’s hard not to draw parallels to his massively popular role of Neegan on the television show The Walking Dead. He delivers most of his lines with the same candor, smirk and all. Besides providing a few things during moments of need, his existence as a character serves only as a middle ground between the good guys and the bad.
Where Rampage makes up for its shoddy script and laughable dialogue is in the action. The last 25 minutes of the movie is pure chaos in the best kind of way. The action is exciting to watch, and I was entertained for the entirety of the final sequence. I was still able to sit back and laugh at how convenient things were, and how characters walked away from obviously fatal accidents with no damage, but the pure ridiculousness of it made these issues easier to swallow. It’s textbook “popcorn movie” content: a lot of explosions, Dwyane Johnson looking cool, and some particularly violent deaths to balance things out.
As an adaptation of the video game, Rampage does a serviceable job but fails to execute on what made people like the game in the first place. I won’t spoil anything, but one of the most unique parts of the video game has been completely removed. It’s a small omission, but the original game had a hint of humanity to the creatures, whereas the movie reduces them to bloodthirsty monsters. Since the original game was mainly about destroying a city, the final sequence in the movie does a great job delivering on those expectations. However, as both an adaptation and on the whole, Rampage struggles to execute on its better ideas.
Overall, Rampage isn’t a terrible movie, but you have to know what you’re going into in order to enjoy it. World building and characterization are nearly nonexistent and dialogue serves as an avenue for one-liners and cheesy jokes. If the action, in the end, wasn’t so great, I would’ve liked the movie far less. However, the smile plastered across my face for the closing 20 minutes of the film generally made up for the rest of the issues. Rampage is definitely a lot of fun, but it’s dumb fun. If you’re okay with that, there are some redeemable factors in Rampage. If you’re expecting anything more than explosions and a way for Dwyane Johnson to flex his biceps, you’ll probably be very disappointed.
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coOKvrsmQiI”]
Movie Rating: 2 stars.
Movie Rating Guide
1 Star = Unwatchable
2 Stars = Cannot Recommend
3 Stars = Great for the Fans
4 Stars = A Solid Movie
5 Stars = Must Own (DVD/Stream Download)
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