At this point, Dwayne Johnson can make practically any film at least a worthwhile watch. In this case, Johnson works in tandem with “Rampage,” the latest adaptation of a popular video game, to create an incredibly stupid, ridiculously dumb action flick, albeit an incredibly enjoyable one.
Based on the popular video game series of the same name, “Rampage” follows Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson), a primatologist who has formed an incredibly close friendship with George, an albino gorilla he had saved from poachers. However, when George becomes infected with a strange gas, he begins to mutate in size, strength, and speed. At the same time, he becomes more aggressive and begins to wreak havoc. Now, Okoye must work with geneticist Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris) in order to save George. But it doesn’t help that a grey wolf and an American crocodile have also become infected.
There are two kinds of stupidity in film: Poorly written stupid and stupidly fun. Fortunately, for the most part, “Rampage” manages to assign itself to the latter. It’s true that 90% of the film is utterly stupid, nonsensical, and in some cases, laughable. However, that’s exactly where the charm comes from. Much of the dialogue is silly and in some cases made me cringe a little, especially with the villains, but for the most part, it works in the sense that it remains consistent with the tone the film is going for.
It won’t stand out from other big dumb blockbusters necessarily. It doesn’t offer anything new to the table, but it should still be mentioned that it probably wasn’t going for anything new. It knew exactly what it wanted to be and mostly succeeded in doing so. Much of the silliness culminates in a 3rd act that is surprisingly really enjoyable and a lot of fun, with really impressive visual effects and action set pieces.
At I mentioned before, Dwayne Johnson can do anything at this point. Unsurprisingly, Johnson brings the kind of charisma, charm, and heart that this film needs. The writing practically makes him Superman because of his many talents, such as able to shoot guns, fly helicopters, train gorillas, and also the fact that he used to be a soldier. Regardless, Johnson maintains that charm that continues to make him a superstar.
The rest of the cast do at least a decent job with their respective roles. Even though her chemistry with Johnson wasn’t all the way there, Naomie Harris still does a fine job in her role, as does Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays a special agent from a mysterious organization. Even though his character remains the same throughout the movie, he’s still fun to watch on screen.
The villains, however, were just painful to watch. Malin Åkerman and Jake Lacy play siblings Claire and Brett Wyden, the ones responsible for the mutations. Their dialogue and plotline are so laughably bad, and not in the same fun way like the rest of the movie. Their villainous plot is incredibly stupid and makes no sense whatsoever. To be honest, I didn’t need them in the movie at all.
Overall, “Rampage” is exactly the kind of brainless, fun blockbuster you would expect it to be. It takes much of the ludicrous stupidity it endorses to heart and uses it as a forefront to its entertainment value. Dwayne Johnson makes this decently dumb film all the more entertaining. “Rampage” will never standout from any other blockbuster before or after it, but it is still an enjoyable time at the theater.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDrPYOK31GI&t=1s&w=585