It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s Superman! Nope, it’s a flying giant wolf! Does that sound crazy because it is! Rampage will take your giant creature fantasy to life!

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars in Brad Peyton’s revisioning of the hit video game series of the same title. In the movie, Johnson plays as Primatologist Davis Okoye who developed a deep friendship with a rare albino gorilla who he calls George. The creature did not only grow an emotional connection with Okoye but also learned how to communicate with him through sign languages. It exhibited skills that are advanced for its kind. The film established early on that the friendship between these two is one that will be the motivational force for the rest of the story.

Meanwhile, the private company Energyne studies genetic manipulation and takes their experiments in space. Their tests gave them unfavorable results which ignited the demise of the laboratory and its crew. This sets off a sequence of events which led to city-wide destruction!

Destroy, Destroy, Destroy!

Rampage would not be worthy of its name if it did not deliver sequences of toppled down skyscrapers and crushed streets! To be quite fair, it should have delivered more than that. When you have a giant crocodile with a wicked tail, a gliding wolf, and a regenerating albino gorilla, everything that stands on their way are sure to end up in pieces!

Nearly two-thirds of the film featured the rampage of these highly-enhanced creatures. While it may sound exhausting, it delivered instead gasp-inducing and edge-of-your seat scenes. There was a certain beauty to how the rampage tore the streets of the city apart. The CGI work is simply outstanding. The looks- deformities and enhancements- of the creatures exude creativity. From the gills that fanned out of the crocodile which reminded me so much of that little dinosaur from The Lost World to the porcupine spikes that flew out of a mutated wolf- it was easy to tell that the film has gone all out.

Big Creatures, Bigger Characters

It was obvious that the creatures carried majority of the movie. Most of its human characters are shallow and tried to keep up with the proportions of the monsters. I would love to know whether the over-the-top acting was an agreed upon creative decision because it was hilarious! Malin Akerman (Claire Wyden) and Jake Lacy (Brett Wyden) were supposed to be the villain as the owners of the company that researches on CRISPR. The harder they tried to be menacing, the funnier it becomes. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, on the other hand, was a DELIGHT!

The Walking Dead fans will instantly be reminded of Negan with Morgan’s acting in the movie. It was light and simply enigmatic. He is working for the government but he had to rethink his alliances the moment George, Lizzie, and Ralph started attacking the city. Naomie Harris was unfortunately added for exposition after exposition. Despite her expression of motivation to expose Energyne, her character still fell flat. With an abundance of characters who did not shy away from explaining everything, Harris’ character can easily be dismissed.

Go Big or Go Home!

Let’s get this out of the way: Rampage is not meant to be your smart sci-fi action flick. It is the type of blockbuster film that will tell you to suspend your disbelief and take in all its craziness! Throughout the film, this thought kept on running in my head, “Were the brains behind Rampage told to go big or go home? The film was outlandish, crazy, and HUGE!”

I would be lying if I will say that I did not enjoy it.

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