Rampage
Dwayne Johnson stars in a Planet of the Apes riff with the addition of a giant wolf and a humungous crocodile.
George and The Rock
It’s only
April and the world’s cityscapes and multiplexes have already taken a battering
from Hollywood’s outsized. But how much CGI and skyscraper scrap can an
audience take before the summer box-office has even kicked off? Rampage, inspired by the video game of the
same name, does have a few things in its favour. Dwayne Johnson knows how to
take a lark like this seriously and with each new film hones his deadpan quippage
to an even finer degree. Here, he’s abetted by Oscar-nominee Naomie Harris, and
she, too, adds a measure of thespian dedication that skims off much of the cheese
from this cholesterol-rich platter. Rampage
is meant to be fun, but there’s a fine line between rollercoaster escapism and
machine-tooled tedium.
Rampage, directed by Brad Peyton, who
brought us the knowingly awesome San
Andreas (which also top-billed Dwayne), starts promisingly – in space. Here
we find an orbiting research laboratory dedicated to the nefarious practice of genetic
editing. An unscrupulous company called Energyne has spliced together the
dominant genes from a number of different animals in order to create an
advanced species. However, when the crew of the satellite is killed, the rat is
out of the bag. Samples of the manipulated DNA come crashing down to Earth (specifically,
the US) and infect a silverback gorilla, a grey wolf and a crocodile. And so
the unsuspecting guinea pigs are transformed into enormous, aggressive and
hangry monsters. And they’re getting bigger by the hour…
Taken in the
right spirit, Rampage is an
affectionate riff on King Kong and Godzilla and ticks a number of familiar
boxes with skill. The green screen effects are not quite in the Spielberg
league, but for the target audience there are enough big bangs to warrant its buck.
George, the albino silverback – reared by ‘primate specialist’ Davis Okoye
(Johnson) – earns our compassion, while the trigger-happy authorities are
suitably maladroit and insensitive to environmental progress. Hiss! With eleven
months until the release of Godzilla:
King of the Monsters – starring Sally Hawkins (of all people) – this should
fill the monster gap very nicely.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin
Åkerman, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, P.J. Byrne, Marley
Shelton, Jason Liles, Demetrius Grosse, Jack Quaid, Breanne Hill, Matt Gerald.
Dir Brad Peyton, Pro Brad Peyton, Beau Flynn, John Rickard and Hiram Garcia, Ex Pro Dwayne Johnson, Screenplay Ryan Engle, Carlton Cuse, Ryan
J. Condal and Adam Sztykiel, inspired by the video game, Ph Jaron Presant, Pro Des
Barry Chusid, Ed Jim May and Bob
Ducsay, Music Andrew Lockington, Costumes Melissa Bruning.
New Line Cinema/Access Entertainment/Dune Entertainment/Flynn Picture Company/Wrigley Pictures/ASAP Entertainment/Seven Bucks Entertainment-Warner Brothers.
107 mins. USA. 2018. Rel: 11 April 2018. Cert. 12A.