Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Rampage Movie Review

Naomie Harris & Dwayne Johnson (r) star in Rampage

When Science Shits the Bed

Rotten Tomatoes Plot: Primatologist Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson), a man who keeps people at a distance, shares an unshakable bond with George, the extraordinarily intelligent, silverback gorilla who has been in his care since birth. But a rogue genetic experiment gone awry mutates this gentle ape into a raging creature of enormous size. To make matters worse, it's soon discovered there are other similarly altered animals. As these newly created alpha predators tear across North America, destroying everything in their path, Okoye teams with a discredited genetic engineer (Naomie Harris) to secure an antidote, fighting his way through an ever-changing battlefield, not only to halt a global catastrophe but to save the fearsome creature that was once his friend. Directed by Brad Peyton.


It's hard to upstage The Rock, but he's never had to share the screen with a 30-foot gorilla and/or wolf before... or has he? Peyton's Rampage looks like a dozen other monster movies, despite everyone's best mediocre intentions. This excludes Johnson & a devilishly charismatic Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who demonstrate great chemistry on screen. Way better than Harris, who doles out scientific theories (the majority of which received unintentional laughter from our screening audience) in a distracting/unconvincing American accent. Of course, most moviegoers could care less, so long as Johnson & company destroy half of Chicago. Mission accomplished.

Grade: C-