Rampage (2018) | Film Review

Based on the 1986 arcade game, Rampage stars Dwayne Johnson as Davis Okoye, a Primatologist working at the San Diego Wildlife Preserve. He shares an extraordinary connection with George, an extremely rare albino gorilla Davis once saved from poachers during his stint with the US military. That’s correct, The Rock is the gorilla whisperer.

Energyne is a company who took to the secrets of space to work on a heightened version of a mutating genetic pathogen. Unfortunately, those mysteries come crashing down to Earth after a mutant rat ravages the station and leads to three canisters crashing in random locations. One lands in the Everglades, finding an awaiting crocodile, one juices a wolf in Wyoming, and the final canister lands right next to sweet ole’ George. Once the animals and reptile are gassed, they begin to mutate. Bigger, stronger, faster. Also, a bit more agitated.

Davis is desperate for answers as he witnesses the diminishing loss of the friend he knew, but thankfully finds a potential savior in Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomi Harris), a disgraced former genetic engineer who just happened to shepherd the project at Energyne. She believes the Wyden siblings (Malin Akerman and Jake Lacy) are uninterested in savings lives, instead they look to modify the mutagen to create a biological weapon for mass profit. As George continues to grow and pounce along with the others towards a low-frequency transmission in downtown Chicago, mysterious government operative Harvey Russell brings Davis and Caldwell along for the ride to stop these animals before any real harm is done. But not before billions of dollars in random destruction occurs, of course.

Helmed by Rock’s San Andreas director, Brad Peyton, there is little to find at fault in the production value nor effects inherent to Rampage. The movie looks fantastic, and frankly it’s stunning how fairly realistic the absurdist design of gigantic mammals and reptiles destroying the greater parts of Chicago are. And George becomes such an emphatic character that we easily root for him, even as he savagely pounds our favorite Illinois landmarks. That said, anytime Johnson gives his mammoth arms a rest or Morgan over-swaggers his ass out of a scene, the film crumbles under the weight of its own ridiculousness.

Part of the issue lies in Jake Lacy’s Brett Wyden. While Malin Akerman savors the chance to dominate the screen with glorious mustache-twirling, Lacy is all over the map, crushing every chance Akerman’s Claire Wyden has to gain traction. His goofy, cowardly take on the character might work in defter hands, but it quickly eviscerates that possibility here. In fact, this apish behavior detracts from the film’s momentum numerous times.

The other issue is that the screenplay, attributed to four separate writers, appears to be written in crayon. Glorious monster mashes such as this thrive on cheese and insane setups, and I’m typically completely on board, but the uninspired quips land flat and the plot device of our villains using low-frequency signals to lure vicious, unstoppably gigantic creatures to their corporate headquarters in DOWNTOWN CHICAGO is beyond mind-blowingly idiotic. Instead of cinematic glee, it feels like a story pulled out of a bad episode of Manimal.

Regardless of the poorly-conceived screenplay, Johnson and Morgan give it their all. The Rock has grown into an effortless performer, coasting on sheer charisma buys him instant goodwill. And Jeffrey Dean Morgan essentially plays Negan from The Walking Dead, but unlike that one-note cartoon, finds enough material here to play him as a fully realized character. If anyone deserves to walk out of this fairly average roffle stomp unscathed, it’s Morgan. Because he steals EVERY scene.

Rampage isn’t a film designed for critics, it was manufactured to dazzle audiences and give them a little fun for their buck. There is more than enough entertainment to warrant a matinee here, but not enough to justify a full night out. Maybe instead, you and the family should just kick back at home and fire up a gaming classic. Rampage is just too much monkey business.