Review of Rampage (2018) by Leon B — 22 Aug 2018

Rampage.

(2018).

Plot:

Primatologist Davis (Dwayne Johnson) shares an unshakable bond with George, the extraordinarily intelligent silver-back gorilla who has been in his care since he was young. When a greed-fueled corporation's genetic experiment goes awry, George and other animals across the country are mutated into aggressive super-creatures who destroy everything in their path. In this adrenaline-filled ride, Davis tries to find an antidote, not only to halt a global catastrophe but also to save the fearsome creature who was once his friend.

Review:

Guess what people, the Rock is playing the innocent hero, who saves the world again! Isn't that a shock! The only difference in this film is that the visual effects were spot on but apart from that, it's just another Dwayne Johnson film, where he is saving the world whilst battling against evil. Right from the beginning of the film, you know that he's going to save the day, even though he has to fight against a huge wolf, a horrible sea monster and an angry ape. The movie is based on the old arcade game called Rampage, which was popular in the 80's. Personally, I couldn't see any similarities, even though the director says that he was trying to stay true to the game but I didn't know that they were connected until I watched the bonus material. Anyway, the movie kicks off in space, were Athena-1, a space station owned by Energyne, is destroyed after a laboratory rat mutates and wreaks havoc. Dr. Kerry Atkins (Marley Shelton), who is the lone surviving crew member, is ordered by the CEO of Energyne, Claire Wyden (Malin Akerman) to retrieve research canisters containing a pathogen. Kerry manages to escape from the rat and sets her course for earth in an escape pod. During her escape, the station explodes but due to the damage from the rat, the escape pod disintegrates upon re-entry, which ends up killing her. The falling pieces leave a trail of debris across the United States, including the Everglades in Florida, where a canister is consumed by an American crocodile, and a forest in Wyoming, where a grey wolf is exposed to the pathogen. Meanwhile, Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson), is a former US Army Special Forces soldier, and a member of an anti-poaching unit, who works at the San Diego Wildlife Sanctuary. He befriends a rare albino gorilla named George, whom he saved from poachers, and they communicate via sign language and hand gestures. During the night, one of the canisters land in George's habitat, which exposes him to the pathogen. Over time, George grows larger and becomes more aggressive, so Davis is contacted by a genetic engineer, Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris), who explains that the pathogen was developed by Energyne, to rewrite genes on a massive scale. She also tells Davis that Energyne planned to use the pathogen as a biological weapon, and that she had hoped to advance the research to potentially cure disease, and that the company fired her and got her put in prison for attempting to expose them. Anyway, George escapes from captivity and goes on a rampage at the preserve. Davis calms him down but he is captured by a government team, led by Agent Harvey Russell (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and there put on an aeroplane. Meanwhile, Claire sends a squad of mercenaries to capture the mutated wolf but they are all brutally killed. Claire then uses a huge transmitter atop the Willis Tower to lure all three of the animals, who have been engineered to respond aggressively to a radio frequency in Chicago. George responds to the frequency and causes the plane to crash but Davis, Kate and Russell manage to parachute to safety. George also survives the crash and joins the other animals while they are making there way to Chicago. After being saved by the army, Davis and Kate are locked up, while Russell is trying to convince the commander that they have information to stop the uncontrollable animals. Davis and Kate then manage to steal a helicopter, with the help of Russell, and they make there way to Chicago. When they finally reach Chicago, they can see the animals tearing through the city, with the military struggling to contain them. When the crocodile joins the other animals Davis and Kate make a plan to steal a counter-serum, hoping that they can turn the mutated animals back to normal. When they finally get to the serum, Claire and her brother, Brett (Jake Lacy) catch them in the act. Claire reveals that the serum only eliminates the animal's aggressiveness, rather than revert them to their normal sizes. Claire then shoots Davis and takes Kate hostage at gunpoint but Davis is still alive, and of course, he saves the day. After putting one of the vials in Claire's bag, Kate pushes Claire towards George, who eats her, along with the serum. While the building is falling apart, Davis and Kate survive by hovering in a damaged helicopter amidst the shower of debris. With George back to normal, he defeats the other two animals, with the help of Davis, and Kate stops the army from dropping a lethal bomb, which will destroy most of the city. So basically, the Rock saves the day, once again. Visually, I was impressed with the final product but the storyline was extremely far-fetched and full of potholes. I didn't get why the army kept on shooting at the animals, when they weren't damaging them at all, and why the commander didn't listen to Davis and Kate when they said they had a way to destroy them. Anyway, after destroying most of a city, and the military, it amazes me how the Rock can stand toe to toe with the animals, and damage them. With that aside, I did like George, and his warped sense of humour and Harvey Russell but the Rock and Naomie got on my nerves after a while. It's still worth a watch, mainly because of the action and the animals but apart from that, it's just your usual Rock movie, with all the bells and whistles. Not Bad!

Round-Up:

This movie was directed by Brad Peyton, who also brought you Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and San Andreas, which also starred the Rock. There are many similarities between this movie and San Andreas, where the Rock saves the day again, so I'm not surprised to see that Brad directed that movie as well. Personally, I think that the Rock has to be careful with his career, even though his movies have grossed over $3Billion because he is starting to become typecasted in all of his movies. Although he played a baddie in Pain & Gain, he was still the innocent one, who just didn't have the common sense to stop what he was doing. That's the only movie that I have found where he hasn't played the hero, which says a lot because he has starred in over 35 movies. He's due to star in Big Trouble In Little China, Black Adam, Doc Savage, Suicide Squad 2, San Andreas 2, Jumanji 2 and Red Notice, which is in production now, and is about an Interpol agent who tracks the world's most wanted art thief. No doubt he'll be the hero in that as well! He has come far since his wrestling days, and the poor acting at the beginning of his career but he has to play the baddie at some point.

Budget: $120million.

Worldwide Gross: $426.3million.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-fi.

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello, Marley Shelton, P.J. Byrne, Demetrius Grosse and Jack Quaid. 4/10.