Director: Brad Peyton
Starring: Dwayne Johnson Naomi Harris, Malin Ackerman, Joe Manganiello and Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Rated: PG
Running Time: 1 Hr, 47 Mins
Full disclosure, I wasn’t expecting much from Rampage. Video game adaptations have a horrible track record, let alone ones based on obscure arcade titles (was Rampage ever available on a home console? And if you have to ask, does it matter?). And the idea of giant, genetically mutated animals facing off with Dwayne Johnson seems to scream meh.
But I lowered my expectations and shut my brain off for a little while (something I can almost never do) and, well I didn’t hate it. And that may be the best a movie like Rampage can hope for.
Video: Warner Bros. Pictures
A scientific research station orbiting Earth is destroyed when experiment unexpectedly backfires. But three canisters survive the catastrophe and fall to Earth, turning the animals who stumble upon them into giant, nightmarish creatures full of destructive intentions. One of those unfortunate animals is George, a rare albino gorilla rescued by primatologist Davis Okay (Dwayne Johnson). George and Davis share a special bond, but even it can’t withstand George’s transformation into a mindless engine of pure mayhem.
It turns out the canisters contained the illegal genetic research of a corrupt corporation, and turning animals into rampaging behemoths was exactly what they hoped for. Now, CEO Claire Wydan (Malin Ackerman) is determined to control the situation and come out of it with the greatest bio-weapon the world has ever seen. A weapon that can be sold to the highest bidder. But it turns out that not even her Machiavellian plans or her corporate resources may be enough to cage the beasts.
The fact is there isn’t a whole lot to dissect in Rampage. The story is crayon simple and can be summed up in a single sentence-some animals get turned into giant monsters bent on destroying everything in their way before turning on each other. Not only have they been super sized, but they’ve been made close to indestructible and the wolf and the crocodile have inherited some other nasty gifts (the wolf can glide and throw giant porcupine quills out of its tail). The movie doesn’t explain why George didn’t receive any additional animal powers (on top of the increased size, super strength and healing factor, that is).
Director Brad Peyton wisely allows some of Johnson’s personality and natural charisma to show through and Jeffrey Dean Morgan eats up his scenes as government agent Marvel Russell (who considers himself a modern day cowboy). Malin Ackerman is convincing as Claire Wydan (who considers profits and share prices far more important than human life), but the human performances are pretty pedestrian otherwise.
The memorable action beats and the light hearted moments that stand out all centre around George. In fact most people will find themselves liking George more than the real actors by the time the credits roll.
Simply put, Rampage is mindless summer fare minus the summer scale. Despite the storyline and the obvious investment in special effects, Rampage feels smaller than a traditional summer blockbuster (which is why Warner Bros. wisely released it in the middle of April). It lacks the signature summer scope.
After seeing Rampage though, I couldn’t help wondering if Dwayne Johnson isn’t overexposing himself. Sure, he starred in last summer’s The Fast and the Furious 8 and last Christmas’ Jumanji reboot, but while those films were wildly successful, you have to remember he was one member of strong ensemble casts. Those movies succeeded because of the chemistry between the leads and Johnson was just one cog in the casting wheel (albeit an important one).
Rampage was a harmless, mildly amusing ride. But it’s also forgettable. Unlike Furious and Jumanji, no one’s going to be talking about Rampage months from now (no one is going to talking about it at all when Avengers: Infinity War drops in two weeks). And a lot of people have already written off this July’s Skyscraper as a Die Hard rip off.
If Skyscraper has as little long term impact as Rampage is likely to (or gets lost in the summer blockbuster noise), Johnson risks being labelled a strong ensemble actor who can’t be a box office draw on his own.
And the road to Hollywood hell is paved with hard working actors who couldn’t reinvent themselves after being branded a bust.
Image Warner Bros. Pictures
