Dwayne Johnson stars as Davis Okoye in the new Brad Peyton adventure film Rampage. Okoye is a primatologist who shares a deep bond with a gorilla named George, the super rare, super intelligent, albino silver back gorilla who was orphaned when poachers killed his mother. Fire falls from the sky containing a failed experiment that infects George. What happens next shocks Okoye. George starts to grow in size and strength. Now, Okoye must save his friend from himself as well as save Chicago from two other giant creatures infected by the same experiment.
Brad Peyton successfully turns the arcade classic video game into an action-packed adventure. Rampage is a fantastically fun film from beginning to end. I actually had a great time watching this film.
The movie starts with a mishap on a space station and quickly establishes what the danger is. We are then immediately introduced to our hero, Johnson, and are shown his relationship with George. The movie does a great job with pacing and giving the audience details that pertain to the story only. Not once did I feel like something was being setup that wasn’t going to have a payoff.
The cast was all had great chemistry on screen with each other, especially Johnson, Naomi Harris and Jeffery Dean Morgan. Dwayne Johnson is amazing in any movie he is in but really shines in this film for me. His portrayal of being friends with a CGI gorilla is quite believable. Morgan especially won me over with his charming cowboy/government agent persona. Think Neegan, only on the side of good.
Harris plays Dr. Kate Caldwell who is out to get the people responsible for the genetically altered beasts because they had something to do with her brother’s death. I have not seen a lot of films with her as an actress, but in this movie, she plays well off of Johnson.
Mailin Akerman and Jake Lacy play the Wyman siblings who are responsible for the monsters. They are quickly established as the villains of the film and live up to that role. They employee Joe Manganiello’s Burke to hunt down and return these beasts dead or alive.
The effects in this movie were great. I saw the film on the biggest screen that I could see it on in my area, and the effects looked really good. Each of the monsters had looked photo realistic and looked good with live action actors. The rampage (yes, I meant that) that takes place in the film looked great on the big screen.
I did not know what to think going into this film but left with a smile on my face. The story loosely follows the games, and by loosely, I mean not at all. In all seriousness though, that did not matter. The movie was good enough to warrant a sequel if not just start a franchise all together. If you want to see a movie and are on the fence of what to go see, make it Rampage. I promise it is a lot of fun and you will not be disappointed.
