In the end, there isn't another way of saying it other than stating that this film is exactly what you are expecting it to be. Animals are mutated and destroy the city. You care about one of them and hope that Dwayne Johnson's character in Davis can work with him to stop everything from getting worse and I'll leave the rest up to your imagination.
The conclusion you're probably coming up with is most likely what happens here. Yes, the charisma of Johnson is great, the secondary characters are likable enough, and I can really see this movie appealing to young teenagers, so it does receive a mild recommendation from me, but if you're looking for something innovative in terms of Hollywood blockbusters, then I would suggest looking elsewhere.
Rampage (2018)
If you're in for a dumb, but fun ride, then I think you'll appreciate it for what it is like I did. Rampage is exactly as advertised, a big, dumb monster movie based upon a flimsy premise of an arcade smash-'em-up, and it's also just about everything you'd ask it to be. This movie is ridiculous, no question, but I walked away feeling like the filmmakers recognized this and embraced its ridiculousness.
His prized primate, an albino gorilla named George, is undergoing very dramatic changes. A canister of secret genetic-altering gas has fallen from a scientific space station, landing in George's gorilla pen, the hills of Montana, and in the Everglades.
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Separately, a wolf and a crocodile are rapidly growing in size, as is George, who is also becoming more aggressive and violent. Kate Caldwell Naomie Harris is a disgraced scientist who may know how to reverse the changes. He and the other monstrous animals are heading to Chicago, lured by a signal intentionally staged to draw them in one very smashable location.
It's not exactly a winking, satirical statement on the monster movie genre, but I think Rampage is still self-aware. Take for instance what befalls The Rock. His character is literally shot in the gut no exit wound and miraculously recovers and runs through crumbling buildings, leaps over rubble, tussles with giant monsters, and even outruns them on the ground, and is thrown this way and that.
However, he is The Rock, our modern equivalent to a living Superman, so the movie shrugs and asks us to just go along with it, and because I was entertained, I did. There were several moments where I just shrugged and said, "Sure, let's do that," but usually these decisions were in the service of the blockbuster elements that I would want to see with this kind of premise.
It's silly and stupid and baffling at times, but it knows what elements to pump up and what elements an audience won't really care about. The villain's plot is completely nonsensical and amounts to, "Step 1 lure the giant monsters to one central tower in Chicago, Step 2? You can look at three performances to get a sense of those who understand the big, dumb, fun movie they're in, and those who have misjudged what kind of movie they're in.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan TV's Walking Dead knows exactly what kind of movie he is starring in and has the time of his life as a scenery chewing, gun slinging, folksy quipping cartoon. Every scene he slides into, the man has a gleeful glint in his eye at what he gets to do.
You almost expect like a musical motif to accompany him every time on screen. It's enough that you think he might just strut off into another movie all his own. On the opposite end are the film's villains, callous, rich, and almost bumbling in their sense of evil. Whenever we cut back to them, the brother and sister are helpfully explaining the lengths of their scheme. Lacy is goofy dumb and relatively useless outside of deliverer of exposition. Akerman fares worse trying to be a no-nonsense bitch of business and is far too serious.
When both of these actors are onscreen, the movie powers down, sapping its fun. When Morgan appears, it's like Rampage can once again be the big, dumb, fun movie we crave. Unexpectedly, the best relationship in the movie is that of The Rock and a giant CGI albino ape, proving once again that Johnson's charming bonafides know no limits. George the gorilla is given far more nuance than any of the other supporting characters, which isn't saying much, yet Johnson's charisma is able to lift all on screen partners. Their funny, warm-hearted relationship may actually stir some emotions in you come its heroic climax, and that by itself is astounding.
Johnson's character back-story is kept to a relative minimum as not to gum up the narrative expediency. He's a reliable anchor for audience engagement that he can sell the most ridiculous, as detailed above. It's been quite an ascent for Johnson over the course of the years, and my pal Dan Nye observed that he's now been playing actual characters rather than recognizable versions of himself. Davis Okoye is more or less The Rock: Zoologist, but it's still a welcomed development. The Rock could star alongside an actual rock and glue your eyes to the screen. The special effects are also quite good for this sort of brainless caper.
George comes across as a genuine creature, not necessarily with the depths of say Andy Serkis' Caesar, but what CGI-performance does? The computer effects do an excellent job of communicating actor Jason Liles' Death Note mo-cap performance and make the big guy sympathetic even as he rages out. I enjoyed that, much like Alex Garland's Annihilation, the animals are not necessarily demonized for behaving like nature intended.
They're creatures undergoing a change they cannot understand and acting accordingly like animals would. The crocodile is impressive for its evolutionary mutations looks impressive and textured, especially when we see its gaping mouth open. As far as its stated mission, Rampage smashes things up but good. Director Brad Peyton showed with 's San Andreas that he's essentially the diet version of Roland Emmerich, and that's okay.
The action is fun above all else and Peyton prefers long visible shots. If we're going to see a bunch of monsters, let's actually see them ahem, Godzilla. I felt like Peyton was far more invested in this movie and his shot selections finding interesting arrangements, like a slow-mo shot of jaws snapping together on a passing fighter plane. Peyton understands the significance of scale, letting the sheer size of the monsters communicate the immeasurable danger.
There's an early confrontation of the giant wolf in a Wyoming forest that's chaotic, suspenseful, and demonstrates that how freaking fast these creatures can be at their size. A prologue in space is genuinely thrilling and the zero gravity aerobatics provide an extra feeling of helplessness against a mutant attacker.
By the end, when all three monsters descend on Chicago, Rampage becomes the popcorn movie experience that it has promised. Nobody is going to label Rampage a smart movie but it is aware of what it is.
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This is a big, dumb movie that aspires to merely be an awesome big, dumb movie, and that prioritized sense of fun pervades the relatively fast-paced film. The Rock is running around with his hulking ape-bro and wrecking havoc. This is the kind of movie where a giant gorilla mimes the universal physical symbol for sexual congress. This is the kind of movie where they feed a person to that giant gorilla.
This is also the kind of movie where The Rock has a bullet lodged in his gut for the entire climax. This is a movie that has no airs about it and simply wants to entertain a mass audience. The Rock is a consistently charming and very capable action lead, and the relationship he has with his giant ape-bro is surprisingly chummy and sweet. If you're looking for a monster movie that has no embarrassment about what it is, let alone being based on an arcade game, then Rampage is going to be a stupidly enjoyable time out at the movies. More Top Movies Trailers Forums.
Season 7 Black Lightning: Season 2 DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4 Doctor Who: Season 11 The Flash: Season 5 This Is Us: Season 3 Saturday Night Live: Season 4 The Walking Dead: View All Videos 2. View All Photos Primatologist Davis Okoye Johnson , a man who keeps people at a distance, shares an unshakable bond with George, the extraordinarily intelligent, silverback gorilla who has been in his care since birth. But a rogue genetic experiment gone awry mutates this gentle ape into a raging creature of enormous size.
To make matters worse, it's soon discovered there are other similarly altered animals. As these newly created alpha predators tear across North America, destroying everything in their path, Okoye teams with a discredited genetic engineer to secure an antidote, fighting his way through an ever-changing battlefield, not only to halt a global catastrophe but to save the fearsome creature that was once his friend. PG for sequences of violence, action and destruction, brief language, and crude gestures.
Dwayne Johnson as Davis Okoye. Naomie Harris as Dr. Malin Akerman as Claire Wyden. Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Harvey Russell. Jake Lacy as Brett Wyden. Joe Manganiello as Burke. Marley Shelton as Dr. Demetrius Grosse as Colonel Blake.
Rampage () - Rotten Tomatoes
Jack Quaid as Connor. Breanne Hill as Amy. Matt Gerald as Zammit. Will Yun Lee as Agent Park. Urijah Faber as Garrick. Bruce Blackshear as Taylor. Weekend Box Office Results: View All Rampage News. July 12, Rating: April 13, Rating: April 13, Full Review…. It should have been a dumb delight; instead it is a bit of a dumb drag. November 27, Full Review…. November 8, Rating: November 7, Rating: November 6, Rating: November 2, Rating: View All Critic Reviews People stepped on, crushed, eaten in one graphic scene, swallowed whole.
Also several scenes of violence against the genetically modified animals, even George, who's shot at again and again with military-grade weapons. Paid mercenaries go on a mission to kill an animal and retrieve data. George the gorilla makes a crude gesture index finger in and out of a fist for sex in reference to what kind of "friend" Kate is to Davis. Somewhat frequent use of strong language, particularly "s--t," "a--hole," "hell," and "bitch.
One use of "goddamn" and a few uses of "Jesus" and "God" as frightened exclamations. Johnson's character is injured multiple times he's even shot , but as always, nothing keeps him from saving the day. But in the end, the movie has messages about teamwork and courage, too. Add your rating See all 24 parent reviews. Add your rating See all 30 kid reviews.
The gorilla, called George, has a special bond with primatologist Davis Okoye Dwayne Johnson , with whom he communicates via sign language. So when George grows substantially in size and strength overnight, Davis knows something is wrong. He confirms this strangeness when lab scientist Dr.
Kate Caldwell Naomie Harris arrives at the zoo and explains that the changes must be tied to research she did at her former lab, which is currently being run by greedy, downright evil siblings Claire Malin Ackerman and Brett Jake Lacy Wyden. Government agent Harvey Russell Jeffrey Dean Morgan shows up to take control, but things get truly horrific after the Wydens emit a powerful frequency to attract George and the supersized wolf and crocodile to the Wyden Labs headquarters in Chicago.
Davis and Kate follow the animals' path in hopes of finding a cure that will stop the giant animals, rescue George, and save humanity from the huge, rampaging predators. Even the immensely likable Johnson can't save this video game-based adventure from its laughable premise and ridiculous dialogue. Johnson's character is downright invincible in Rampage: He survives so much -- including actual gunshots which he treats like nothing more than irritating mosquito bites -- that you can't help but giggle aloud whenever he looks "injured.
Ackerman's Claire actually refers to black ops consultants as "Killers R Us. Despite Rampage 's many flaws -- we won't even speak of the made-up science -- there's a certain amount of amusement in watching Johnson win at pretty much everything he does. He's nearly as much of a giant on screen as George the gorilla, and anyone who isn't entertained by The Rock's presence likely wouldn't see this movie in the first place.
As a fan, it's never a complete waste of time to watch him do his heroic thing, but it's also not necessary to support such a violent, unimaginative, unremarkable action film. Families can talk about the violence in Rampage.
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Was it more graphic than you expected? What's the impact of media violence on kids? Is anyone a role model in the movie? If so, what character strengths do they display? How do Davis and Kate use teamwork to help rescue George and save humanity? Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate. Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization, earns a small affiliate fee from Amazon or iTunes when you use our links to make a purchase. Thank you for your support. Our ratings are based on child development best practices. We display the minimum age for which content is developmentally appropriate. The star rating reflects overall quality and learning potential. Learn how we rate.
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