Review – Rampage

According to www.dictionary.com, the definition of the word rampage is, “violent or excited behavior that is reckless, uncontrolled, or destructive.”  This definition describes what I wanted out of this film.  I wanted complete and utter chaos.  I wanted heightened, ridiculous, over-the-top action.  That was it.  The plot, characters, acting, none of that matter.  I just wanted mayhem.

Unfortunately, I only got that for the last third of the movie, which was everything I wanted and more.  But the other two-thirds is another story.  There are a couple cool scenes here and there, but nothing that got my juices flowing.  And when there is no action, boy, does this movie struggle.

Rampage is based on the 90’s video game of the same name, where the objective of the game is to destroy buildings and everything else on the screen in order to go on to the next level.  You can play as either a giant gorilla, lizard, or wolf.  The problem with the movie version is that the plot of the movie is kind of the opposite, as three animals, a gorilla, a crocodile, and a wolf, are infected by a dangerous pathogen and then head for destruction in Chicago as military, government officials, and one Primatologist (Dwayne Johnson) try to stop them.  Sure, destruction happens, but when you make a movie about creatures who destroy buildings, shouldn’t the be your sole purpose?  The movie does what other films, like the Transformers films, does where they add a human element to a non-human source material.  With Transformers, it’s a bigger problem because the actual Transformers could function without humans because they can speak.  But with Rampage, the animals can’t speak, so they make humans the main characters and deviate from the video game’s initial story.  So was this really the right game to adapt to the big screen?

The first two-thirds of this movie are really problematic.  I knew going into this movie that it wasn’t going to be anything inventive, but everything about the movie is bland.  The characters are weak, the action is minimal, and there is really only one performance that I enjoyed and that was from Jeffrey Dean Morgan as a mysterious government agent/cowboy.  He chews up his scenes and has a ball with it.  Johnson was fine, just kind of doing his Johnson thing of being big, buff, and cool.  Naomi Harris and Malin Akerman are completely useless and Jake Lacy is in the running for most annoying character of 2018 as Akerman’s assistant.

I am giving this movie two and a half stars and two of those stars come from the final third of the movie (the half coming from Morgan’s performance).  When everybody merges in Chicago for the film’s climax, that is the definition of rampage.  It is a loud, chaotic, insane thirty-minute sequence that will blow your mind.  Seeing a giant gorilla, wolf, and crocodile climb up the Sears Tower (it’s Sears, always Sears, never Willis) and bring it down is something to behold.  And then watching them fight each other is everything I wanted the entire movie.  At that point, I didn’t care about plot, characters, or any of that.  I was sucked immersed in the action spectacle happening right before my eyes.  Seeing this sequence on IMAX was incredible.

I guess I’ll give this movie a slight recommendation.  The first two-thirds of it is really, really bad and some of the worst cinema I’ve seen all year, so be prepared for that.  But it pays off in the last third, which is a true spectacle that will blow you away.  See this movie on the biggest, loudest screen possible.  It will only enhance one of the best scenes of 2018.

Did you see Rampage?  What did you think?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.