Rampage movie review
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Story:
The story is simple, being that genetic editing goes awry and from it three regular animals are morphed into three monstrous beasts that wreck buildings and fight the army. The movie did not need a complicated story, and what we got was perfect enough to give us what we wanted, and that was monster mayhem. The movie has its heartwarming moments, notably a short sequence in which we learn of George's backstory (the albino ape), though others aren't as well done (Davis' military background).
Characters:
The characters of the story are where it gets a fair bit more cheesy and "dumb" as some reviewers say. The main protagonist of Davis is probably the strongest, but is Dwayne Johnson yet again playing Dwayne Johnson without much deviation from his usual act (though one scene that delighted me was when Dwayne Johnson's hands were zip-tied, and he easily snapped it with raw strength). The scientist woman who he spends most of the journey with feels forgettable, and they never feel like they make a genuine connection until the closing act of the film and by that point the suggestion of a romantic connection feels out of place. An odd choice was the film's introduction of characters that would vanish not too long afterwards, Joe Manganiello's military figure is giving a scene of introduction but leaves the movie not too soon afterwards without much fanfare, and Davis' sidekick played by P.J. Byrne doesn't follow him to even the second act of the movie. It felt as though the character of Russel played by Jeffery Dean Morgan would fall to this fate as well but he thankfully doesn't, and turns in one of the more charismatic performances of the film, flipping the usual government agent stereotype on its head for a funny, smiling performance. The villainous duo of the film was also fun to watch, as Malin Akerman's cold, stony delivery contrasted greatly with her character's more comedic, cartoony brother, the latter of which added to the dumbness of the movie, but in an entertaining way. Malin Akerman's villain also breaks the usual habit of villain's threatening heroes at gunpoint, and instead just shoots. Both end up leaving the film in sudden, forgotten-after-they're-gone manners though.
Monsters:
The true stars of the film were the monsters of course, and they did not disappoint. George the gorilla was easily the most well developed, being the primary creature, and his fusing from the genetics was a tragic process to watch as he dealt with fear and aggression; with a healthy dose of humor that was a bit crude at times but overall not bad. In my opinion though, the other two beasts of the film were the more interesting two, with "Ralph" the wolf and "Lizzie" the crocodile appearing as true monsters with mutated appearance and a thirst for mindless killing. Ralph in particular seemed to be a vicious killer, and was definitely scarier the more abilities he manifested. Lizzie was easily three times the size of the other two, which seemed odd to me and made George seem tiny since he was even smaller than Ralph. The reptilian giant was frightening and destructive, looking the part and acting accordingly as it scaled buildings and fought ferociously. The three beasts gave stellar action sequences that were great to watch, and in the end we got some monster vs monster bookend that made it all the more sweeter.
Overall:
Rampage is not a great movie, it isn't fantastic, it doesn't have well developed characters that will stick with you or a plot that is exceptionally compelling and thoughtful, but it does have the fun and destruction that the movie promised in the first place and in every aspect of the action and moments in between the movie delivers explosive entertainment that barely slows down and that exists for the fun movie experience it offers.
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