Rampage

What do you call it when three giant monsters stomp all over downtown Chicago?

Rampage.

And that is what we're talking about today, the 2018 movie adaptation of a classic arcade game.

Apparently the film is a rather faithful adaptation, or perhaps more of a homage, to the arcade game where you play either a giant gorilla, a huge wolf or a mega crocodile, and use them to destroy buildings and the military trying to stop them. Seeing as the game concept is so simple, it's no surprise that the film makers had to flesh it out a little. Mind you, that's all they did, a little extra work.

Rampage stars Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and others. The cast is actually somewhat small, since the giant creatures take up so much space, both on screen and in the script.

Even though this isn't the kind of movie you can spoil, I'm still trying to be careful. The plot goes like this:

A genetic experiment on a space station goes wrong, and DNA altering canisters crash down, creating the gorilla, wolf and crocodile monsters. The military and our heroes try to stop them. Yeah, that is kinda it. Rampage is a 'turn off your brain and have fun' kinda movie, and it does it very well.

Yes, despite perhaps sounding a bit negative, I really liked Rampage. The effects are top notch and the actors do a credible job. Sure, there is really no character development nor any depth to their personalities, but it's a movie about giant monsters, what can you expect? Shakespeare this is not, nor should it be.

My only real complaints are the villains and the military.

One villain is basically too dumb to understand shoelaces, and the other seems to only exist to make the plot happen. They are rather dull and uninteresting, but that's a minor thing.

My other complaint is the military and it's hardware. I really wish the script writers had looked into how they work before firing up their laptops. When looking at what actual weapons do to creatures who aren't real, it gets tricky, but even though they lampshade the monsters amazing resilience and regeneration, some of the weapons used against them should do more damage. A lot more damage.

Beyond that, the whole military opposition to the monsters is commanded by an army colonel. And apparently he has carte blanche to do what ever he wants, including blowing up most of Chicago if he wants to... Come on. A colonel with that much authority? On the US mainland? With both the White House and the Pentagon easily available? N o way. If they had at least bothered to make him a general, I could swallow it, but never a mere colonel.

What it really boils down to is that Rampage does it right. If you're making a film about monsters wrecking stuff, then do just that. Don't show me 90 minutes of relationship drama, get to the point.

Rampage is great for what it is, and I recommend it for that. Leave your expectation at the door and have fun.

That's me for this week, join me again next time. Until then have a great week and stay away from monsters.