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  • Writer's pictureKaveh Jalinous

Rampage (2018): Film Review




The slogan for Dwayne Johnson's newest action film, Rampage, reads: "Big Meets Bigger". Although the three word phrase makes sense, it just doesn't suit the tone of the film. Rather, it should be: "Dumb Meets Dumber." Because, you can't even sugarcoat the fact that this movie is terrible. In fact, it's awful. Right from the opening scene to the end credits, every minute feels forced, awkward, and even annoying. To put it in perspective, not even the Kid Cudi song at the end (titled "The Rage") could save this film from being the sloppy mess that it is. You may be wondering where exactly Rampage messes up, and there is a simple one-word answer for that: everywhere. The film tells the story of Davis Okoye, a primatologist at the San Diego Wildlife Sanctuary, who has formed a personal bond with an albino gorilla named George. But, when George is exposed to a scientific gas that induces "genetic editing", George starts to become bigger and bigger, until he is as tall, huge, monster with nothing but aggression. Combine this, with a giant flying wolf and a huge alligator, and nothing but a mess will occur. Yes, this was the actual plot of the movie, and it actually got made, marketed, and released. The film is way too dark and disturbing for an audience of primarily young kids, and instead of being a fun, action-packed film, the only thing Rampage is packed with is miles of exposition and no character development whatsoever. Surprisingly, the film is not as action-packed as you might think, and the last battle felt unbelievably forced. The villain was laughable, and her whole "plan" felt engineered to fail. Johnson can do so much better, and we have seen him do so much better, which just proves the point that he was only in this film for the butt-load of money that he is about to receive. And, I feel like that is the best way to describe this mess of a film. It was only made to rake up cash, and you can easily tell. None of the actors want to be there, and you can easily tell, and you can't connect with any characters at all, they are all terrible, rude, or annoying. Rampage is terrible, but were we expecting anything from it. I don't know about you, but I most definitely was not. And that, right there, is a blessing.

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