Warner Bros. Pictures
Growing up, my days were spent playing Nintendo 64 while all my friends were outside running around. One game I constantly played was ‘Rampage: World Tour’ and I cherished every moment of it. Memories of me playing as a human turned into a giant creature smashing buildings and eating humans still swirl around in my head. Naturally I was excited to hear of the release of the film adaptation starring Dwayne Johnson by director Brad Peyton who previously directed Johnson in Journey to the Center of the Earth 2 and San Andreas.
In Peyton’s new film, Johnson plays primatologist Davis Okoye who shares a bond with George, an intelligent gorilla that has been in Davis’ care since birth. When a rogue genetic experiment transforms George into a raging monster, Okoye teams with a genetic engineer to secure an antidote and save his friend. Okoye soon discovers that there are other similarly altered animals tearing across North America.
In a movie where three predators grow increasingly large, I couldn’t imagine anyone besides Johnson starring in a human role. Johnson’s persona is overly ‘manly’ (just like any other film he is in) and I was waiting for the moment where he just stepped in and fought the gigantic monsters by himself. Every line of dialog that came out of Johnson’s mouth felt like it was straight out of a video game. Even though I found Johnson to be the perfect fit for the role, it led to the most cheesy lines of the movie. I admire Johnson as an actor but I don’t need to be reminded of how big his arms are.
Starring alongside Dwayne Johnson is Jeffrey Dean Morgan who plays a government agent with a cowboy attitude. He was easily one of my favorite characters in the film and he seemed to have the most fun with his role. Portraying the villains in the film are Malin Akerman and Jake Lacy, who play siblings wanting to create deadly experiments for their own personal gain. Just like Johnson, these actors had some very cheesy lines and the way they are written is very reminiscent of the stereotypical video game character. They had grand motives and presented themselves just as loud as a video game villain.
This movie takes some time becoming fun and exciting. I was surprised with how emotional the connection was between Davis and his gorilla, George. Through sign language, Davis and George could express their humor and love for one another. His ability to communicate with Davis and therefore the audience makes George an endearing and interesting character. When Davis was trying to save George from terrorizing Chicago, you can tell Davis really cares about his friend.
When all the development is done, the movie becomes a little cliché but still entertaining. Nostalgia was running through me as I was watching the three monsters causing mass destruction, which was easily my favorite parts of the film. Peyton makes sure to include plenty of moments where viewers can sit back, relax, and watch monsters tear through a city. Often when adapting a video game, it’s hard to be faithful because of the overwhelming amount of source material. In Rampage’s case, there really isn’t a lot of source material to work with as the game is just about three monsters destroying buildings. The last 30 minutes of the movie was just that and it made the whole movie satisfying to watch. It would have been repetitive to a 1 hour and 47 minute film with just three creatures running amok through the city so there was a great balance of plot and mindless destruction.
Even though this film had flaws with its characters and set up, the movie was entertaining overall. Since I had a background with the video game, I could look past the cheesy dialog and over-the-top characters. Moments of the third act felt like it was straight from the video game. Johnson once again reminded me why he is quickly becoming one of the most hardworking and charismatic actors working today. Rampage is easily one of the better video game adaptations made. After the success of Tomb Raider and Rampage, video game movies might have a fighting chance this year.
Rampage runs 1 hour 47 minutes and is rated PG-13 for sequences of violence, action and destruction, brief language, and crude gestures.
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