[Movie Review] Rampage (2018)
Plot Summary: When three different animals become infected with a dangerous pathogen, a primatologist and a geneticist team up to stop them from destroying Chicago.
Director: Brad Peyton
Writers: Ryan Engle, Carlton Cuse
Runtime: 1h 47min
Main Cast:- Dwayne Johnson as Davis Okoye
- Naomie Harris as Dr. Kate Caldwell
- Malin Akerman as Claire Wyden
- Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Harvey Russell
- Jake Lacy as Brett Wyden
- Joe Manganiello as Burke
Review by: Erika T
Primatologist and military veteran Davis Okoye may find it hard to connect with people, but he shares a one of a kind bond with George, an intelligent gorilla whom he has been caring for since his birth. But an illegal genetic experiment gone wrong turns this gentle giant, a wolf, and a crocodile into a crazed monster that terrorizes the city of Chicago. No skyscraper is safe. Okoye teams with a discredited genetic engineer, Dr. Kate Caldwell, to acquire an antidote. Hoping to prevent a global catastrophe from happening, he fights his way through an ever-changing battlefield, not only to halt what could be the end of the world but also to save whatever might be left of his one true friend.
What I Liked:
Based on the previews, I set my expectations to level “mediocre”. However, the first act of the film made me slightly optimistic that it would exceed those expectations and surprise me. I liked George and the relationship they establish between him and Davis. He is definitely man’s best friend and super expressive and funny in his own right. They did a good job giving him a personality and avoiding making him too one-note. I can confidently say the CGI gorilla was portrayed and directed better than his human counterparts.
I remember thinking with some of the action sequences that this could make a pretty entertaining video game only to find out later that this movie is a video game adaptation. I would give myself props for picking up on that, but I am also not sure how popular Rampage was as a game, so that puts me back at zero.
What I Didn’t Like:
By the second act, my hopes for this film to go beyond mediocre were dashed. If anything, it dipped slightly below mediocre for me. This is easily the worst effort I have seen from Malin Ackerman. I believe she has played a more convincing villain in past roles so I didn’t understand why she managed to be so awful here. Certain lines in the script and her delivery made me think I could do a better job, and I haven’t been credited with 56 acting roles.
I normally like Naomi Harris but she didn’t bring her best here either, though she was far from the worst offender. I also found that the chemistry between Kate and Davis left a lot to be desired. There were some missed opportunities to establish their relationship better. It certainly wasn’t due to lack of sufficient screen time together.
There were one or two lines in the film that were funny in the moment, but much like this film, they were forgettable.
Summary
Let’s be honest. The Rock is in too many movies and tv projects to expect all of them to be good. Fortunately, Jumanji was a great one and Ballers is pretty solid. So that leaves Rampage to be the dud. Thankfully it’s no great loss.
User Review
( votes)Images Courtesy of IMDB
