(spoiler free)
‘Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle’ recently became SONY’s most successful film of all time. The reason for this success can surely be debated but the pulling power of one of it’s main stars; Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson will certainly have had something to do with it. Whilst often criticised for playing pretty much the exact same role in every film, SONY’s success shows just what kind of effect he can have on a movie. Seemingly his casting in a big budget action movie is one element of a winning formula that studios want in on, enter ‘Rampage’.
Reuniting with the director of ‘San Andreas’, Brad Peyton, Johnson stars as Primatologist Davis Okoye in this video game to film adaptation. The film’s events follow the fallout after three animals are infected with a mysterious sample which causes them to grow in size and aggression at rapid pace. With everyone around these creatures in immediate danger it’s up to Davis and co. to save the day. If you’ve seen the trailers you know that this film is going to take some serious suspension of disbelief, it’s bat shit crazy and this is evident from the get go. Think of the creature feature style films you would see on SyFy but imagine it was actually produced to a somewhat credible standard. The story itself is ludicrous; it has some pacing issues, it takes things a little too far on occasion and it has some serious finale fatigue but it looks the part and has the budget to make it a more worthwhile cinematic experience, something that many other films in this genre struggle with.
The action which accompanies the story is suitably extravagant, not being dissimilar to the spectacle achieved by ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ only weeks previously. Despite the often chaotic and dumbfounding action unfolding there are actually a couple of very well executed sequences which manage to evoke suspense in a somewhat unexpected manner. The special effects work on the creatures is also to be praised although the design and some more specific elements to them are maybe more questionable.
‘Rampage’ can certainly be added to the list of films which feature the cookie cutter Rock character, but hey, he does it well and he sports a nice chemistry with his co-star CGI gorilla here. The rest of the cast is made up of a whole host of famous faces, portraying some very entertaining characters. There are some minor characters at the beginning of the film, including one played by P.J. Bryne, who get immediately forgotten about as soon as all the monkey business begins. This is a shame but there are plenty of other character to keep audiences amused. None more so than Jeffrey Dean Morgans OGA (Other Government Agency) Agent Russel. He’s clearly having a lot of fun in this role and as a result the audience most definitely do too. The other standout performance comes courtesy of Malin Åkerman who plays the villainous CEO of the company responsible for the infections. She’s an ultimate blockbuster bitch hamming up her performance any chance she gets consequently stealing every scene she features in. So although the performances in themselves maybe aren’t anything to really praise they’re pitched right for this kind of blockbuster and end up being one of the film’s best features.
It would seem that the Rock is on to a winner once more. Know what you’re getting yourself in for and you should have a blast with ‘Rampage’. However, it isn’t without it’s issues even when not expecting too much. The line of plausibility is stepped across almost immediately although even when this is embraced some moments do take the piss. Nonetheless it delivers on all the best elements of a creature feature thanks to it’s over the top action, performances and script making ‘Rampage’ a fine addition to any Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson movie night.
Written by Hamish Calvert
Rating – 6.5/10
Question: You’re the head of a movie studio, which film star do you want fronting your new movie?
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Thanks to Movie House Cinemas for screening access
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