Short Attention Span Review: Rampage (2018)
As someone who played the video game this movie is based on in my youth, the news that this property was being developed into a film hit me like a ton of meh. There wasn't much in the way of a plot so far as the game was concerned, and even after The Rock signed on to star in the picture, I just didn't see how this could be anything special. I think I was expecting something more along the lines of Pixels, so I got a pleasant surprise when I took my son to see this one in the theater. We revisited it on Blu-Ray this weekend with the whole fam, and my opinion hasn't changed: Rampage is a solid creature feature. It's not quite on par with Kong: Skull Island, but it isn't too far off, and while I think the 2014 version of Godzilla is a superior movie, Rampage offers a lot more in the way of entertainment. The effects were pretty awesome, there were some big laughs along the way, and anyone who enjoys seeing giant monsters run amok is guaranteed to enjoy the shenanigans that unfold in this nonsensical romp. The Rock does a bang-up job in the lead role, investing a lot of heart into the picture, while most everyone else is relegated to playing a cliche aside from George, the albino gorilla/CGI spectacle who enjoys quite a bromance with our star. Genre fans will likely enjoy the little Predator homage embedded in the first act, and the last reel is a cinematic bombardment of carnage on an epic scale. Perhaps most impressive is the fact that the movie manages to tell an interesting tale and deliver some serious kicks while also finding a way to pay homage to the simplistic video game it is based upon. While I'm a big fan of The Rock as a personality, I have often found his filmography to be a bit lacking, and I surely didn't expect Rampage to offer anything new and different. In truth, it didn't, but those who enjoy my blog should know by now that I'm sucker for a creature feature, and I'm not one to throw stones at a servicable B movie. This is both of those things, and it is also one of The Rock's most enjoyable offerings.
Final Grade: B+
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| Surprisingly, Rampage emerges as a solid creature feature and one of The Rock's most entertaining movies. |
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