Rampage is a monster action film based on the video game of the
same name. It follows primatologist
Davis Okoye (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) who is best buddies with an
albino silverback gorilla named George.
One day, George gets accidentally exposed to a mutagen sample that
gradually transforms him into a berserk, colossal ape. While his gorilla friend runs amok, Davis works
with genetic engineer Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris) and government spook Harvey
Russell (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) in finding a way to save him. Unfortunately, things only get more
complicated for them when it’s revealed that a wolf and a crocodile have been
similarly mutated.
It’s exactly the kind of movie
that I thought it was going to be – a dumb, cheesy monster romp. It definitely entertains at the most basic of
levels. It doesn’t have depth, but it
doesn’t pretend of having any. It doesn’t
take itself too seriously. Thus, the absence of pretentiousness actually allows the emotional core found in the bond of Davis
and George to have an impact, the set pieces of its climax to gratify, and the
surprises to, well, surprise.
Moreover, the presence of the Rock
alone immediately makes it watchable.
Though he once again plays the charismatic, rugged badass – arguably the
kind of character he plays in every movie of his – the desired magnetizing
effect remains present and strong. Seriously,
I wonder when will the drawing power of his screen presence finally start to
feel stale – or if such a time will ever come at all.
In the end, Rampage is ultimately inconsequential. But there’s reasonable enjoyment to be had in
watching it. And this is the kind of
movie in which that should be good enough for it to be deemed favorably.
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