DIRECTOR:
Brad Peyton LEAD CAST: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Dean
Morgan, Malin Åkerman, Jake Lacy, Marley Shelton, Joe Manganiello SCREENWRITER: Adam Sztykiel PRODUCER: Brad
Peyton, Beau Flynn EDITOR: Jim May MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Andrew Lockington GENRE: Fantasy/Science Fiction CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jaron Presant DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. Pictures LOCATION: USA
RUNNING TIME: 117 minutes
Technical assessment: 3.5
Moral assessment: 3
CINEMA rating: V14
The Wyden siblings Claire (Malin Akerman) and Bret
(Jake Lacy) conduct experiments on genetic editing in a space station to avoid
detection by the US government. A lab
rat turns into a giant, smashing everything in its path. As the station explodes along with the escape
pod, three cartridges containing the pathogens used in the experiment zoom back
down to earth. One is swallowed by a
crocodile in the Everglades, another is sniffed by a wolf in a Wyoming forest,
and the third lands in a San Diego wildlife preserve, home to George, an albino
gorilla that primatologist Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson) has rescued from
poachers as a baby. The three animals
exposed to the pathogens mutate into aggressive monsters and go on a rampage, killing
or eating humans and pulverizing their cities.
Davis sincerely believes he can persuade his pet/friend George to stop;
he is helped by genetic engineer Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomi Harris) and Agent
Harvey Russell (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).
The plot is nothing new: scientists who play God
botch up an experiment, monstrous animals wreak havoc on the metropolis, good
guys come to the rescue, and all ends happily ever after. That much you can expect wherever Dwayne “The
Rock” Johnson stars, anyway. Not that we’re
complaining. With a face that spells “harmless”
and biceps that inspire you to ponder the theology of the human body, Johnson
makes for a likeable hero in Rampage.
George the albino gorilla will probably be compared to King Kong, but the
CGI here is just right, smoothly done to a degree that advances the story
believably and not to craft a movie that looks and feels just like another
computer game. With a giant gorilla that
is almost human providing the naughty-naughty humor, it becomes easy to close
your eyes to certain flaws of the movie and just enjoy the fiction.
What saves Rampage is its unwillingness to compete with other
films of its genre. It doesn’t try to
outdo its predecessors through bigger and better computer gimmickry, perhaps because
it wants to underscore its many messages. For mad scientists— stop tampering with
nature. About forgiveness—“Even assholes
deserve a second chance”, quote unquote.
For military men—your guns won’t save you, but common sense might. For everybody—be honest, be humble, and you’d
better behave, otherwise the gorilla will eat you. Although its lessons may be good for
children, too, the visuals are too scary for minds that cannot separate fact
from fiction. (TIP: keep your eyes open for what George does to people in the movie's last few seconds.)
