Rampage (2018)

Review

107min

Genre:     Action, Adventure, Sci-fi

Director:  Brad Peyton

Cast:       Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan…more

Writers:   Ryan Engle, Carlton Cuse, Ryan J. Condal…and more

-Synopsis-

When his favourite albino gorilla is exposed to a mysterious gene-altering substance and begins to grow into a giant destructive super-ape, a capable primatologist must find a way to save friend and the cities he threatens, while fending-off other monstrous creatures in this adaptation of the popular 80s video game from the director of ‘San Andreas’.

It’s official, mega monster movies are in! . . . if they were ever really out, and the recent box-office successes of the watchable ‘Kong: Skull Island’ and the forgettable ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ prove that the appetite for big beasts wreaking havoc upon on humanity is still healthy. Now director Brad Peyton reunites with charismatic man-mountain Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and builds on their experience of disaster epics and action hero vehicles, adding comedy and plenty of Kaiju-style monster mayhem for this unapologetically over-the-top CGI popcorn epic.

Johnson himself stars as primate expert and former soldier ‘Davis Okoye’, whose skills are put to the test when his unique white gorilla friend ‘George’ is transformed into a giant rampaging creature—along with a wild wolf and crocodile—by a powerful pathogen which crash-lands on Earth. Teaming up with geneticist ‘Kate Caldwell’ (Naomie Harris) and butting heads with shady government operative ‘Russell’ (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), he is plunged into a race against time to protect his simian friend and save Chicago from destruction—while stopping corrupt tech corporation ‘Energyne’ and its ruthless CEO ‘Claire Wyden’ (Malin Akerman) profiting from tragedy.

With a simple platform game as its source and not much pop-culture lore to adhere to, ‘Rampage’ is from the school of video game adaptations which takes a very basic premise and pads it out with plot, characters and drama. Peyton and the writers take stylistic and narrative inspiration from obvious monster classics like ‘King Kong’ and ‘Godzilla’, but also things like ‘Jurassic Park’ and the recent space-station sci-fi/thriller ‘Life’, weaving in dramatic themes around animal welfare, corruption and greed, and an escapist take on ‘man’s folly’ in playing god—but there are still homages to the game for the eagle-eyed fans out there.

One look at any of the film’s promotional materials should tell you what to expect here, and ‘Rampage’ does exactly what it says on the tin. Unapologetically ludicrous and over-the-top, the film uses its $120 million budget to create huge action set-pieces and some truly impressive scenes of destruction, even including some eerily familiar imagery which suggests that mainstream Hollywood has freed itself from the ghosts of 9/11.

Then there are the formidable creatures of course, well-designed and executed to the level that audiences have come to expect from lavish CGI blockbusters—although it’s thirteen years since Peter Jackson remade ‘King Kong’ and we are yet to see a more impressive or convincing giant gorilla.

The film boasts a measure of humour too, mostly in the form of banter and a ‘buddy cop’ dynamic between ape and man, but ‘Rampage’ isn’t all fun and games . . . unfortunately. The social themes and dramatic elements of the story run through much of the film, clearly intended to elevate this beyond a mindless popcorn spectacle, but often proving out of place and sending mixed signals in terms of the tone. The result is a film which sometimes takes itself a little too seriously and fails to acknowledge its own silliness, slightly holding it back from being pure unadulterated enjoyable nonsense.

Yet ‘Rampage’ can count on something that most competing mind-numbing CGI blockbusters just don’t have—the charisma of its irrepressible man-mountain of a star. Dwayne Johnson easily carries the film on his implausibly wide shoulders through a combination of his personality, physicality and delivery, solidifying a remarkable transformation from wrestling favourite to one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, solely assuming the mantle vacated by the muscle-bound action superstars of the 80s and 90s, while excelling in comedy too—and continuing to shine regardless of the quality of the film in question.

Whilst is may be hampered by its tone at times and proves to be a silly escapist action flick which won’t leave a mark, ‘Rampage’ has enough going for it to make for a rather entertaining one, managing to just about conquer the video game adaptation curse which renders most attempts disappointingly dull—resulting in one of the better video game movies in recent memory . . . which may be damning it with faint praise.

The Bottom Line…

A mindless and ludicrous but entertaining big budget Hollywood creature-feature and disaster flick for a modern generation, ‘Rampage’ just about manages to overcome a confused tone and delusions of profundity thanks to bags of monster mayhem, plenty of extravagant destruction and some humour to boot—all held together by the formidable arms and undeniable charms of its star, the rock on which it’s built.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

The latest incarnation of the ‘King Kong’ myth set just after the Vietnam War in the early 1970s, where a group of American scientist and soldiers embark on a voyage of exploration to an uncharted Pacific island—only to find that they’ve discovered a land of monsters lorded over by a great mythical beast.

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and starring Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson among others.

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