![]() ![]() In an underwritten role, Harris capably suggests Caldwell’s expertise and implacable determination to defeat Energyne’s nefarious bio-engineering plans. Caldwell’s technical experience, which could offer the key to rescuing George. Whether it’s interspecies communication, helicopter piloting or weapons handling, Davis doesn’t leave much space for anyone else to shine. ![]() ![]() The downside of his performance, however, may be that he appears to be just too capable. Johnson pulls this relationship off with grace and humor, affably accepting that it will inevitably make him the target of any number of jokes at his character’s expense. Rampage’s four screenwriters provide an additional twist by showing Davis opening himself up with George through their shared sign language while he remains stubbornly distant from the people around him. One of the central premises of a Dwayne Johnson action movie tends to be the conceit that his characters are physically capable but emotionally limited. He’s skillfully supported by DP Jaron Presant and the superior VFX team at Weta Digital, allowing him to get the cameras close on the genetically modified animals and in particular George’s expressive features.Īlthough their spectacular clashes provide most of the movie’s visual thrills, the escalating conflict between George and Davis remains the principal narrative dynamic, as Davis attempts to leverage not only his scientific training, but also his emotional reserves to deal with George’s toxic rage. property), advance on Chicago, it takes some time for the action sequences to fully engage, but from about the movie’s midpoint, Peyton delivers a succession of staggering set pieces. Before you can say “kaiju smackdown,” another monster materializes, along with the potential for a thrilling three-way confrontation.Īs the trio of aggressors, loosely based on the Rampage videogame (now a Warner Bros. If Rampage’s disaster scenario represents classic B-movie material, the filmmakers don’t seem at all concerned about appearances in fact, they up the ante with another gigantic predator, a 30-foot wolf with incredible speed and agility that’s on a potentially devastating collision course with George. When the mega-ape regains consciousness aboard the air freighter, all hell breaks loose and before long he’s gone AWOL big-time, setting off on a mysterious and destructive quest to reach Energyne’s headquarters in Chicago. After George tears down the veterinary lab, his tentative rampage gets cut short by shadowy government secret agent Russell (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a syrupy-sweet-talking, pearl-handled-pistol-packing, aw-shucks Southern gentleman type, who tranquilizes George and loads him onto an air transport. Once the pseudo-scientific background involving gene-editing techniques that produce oversized animals has been dispensed with, it’s about time for some monster mayhem. Kate Caldwell ( Naomie Harris) realizes what’s going on as soon as she hears news reports about the gargantuan gorilla and warns Davis that George will continue growing uncontrollably before becoming lethally aggressive. Curious, George investigates, inadvertently inhaling the toxic gas and transforming overnight into a nine-foot-tall super-gorilla. When an experimental gene-splicing lab aboard a secretive Energyne space station explosively disintegrates, the debris crashes to earth in the San Diego wildlife sanctuary, along with a sample of the company’s powerful pathogen. Directors of Energyne Corporation’s Project Rampage, they’re attempting to bio-engineer super-sized, super-aggressive predators and “weaponize” their DNA, whatever that’s supposed to mean. Their relationship is about to be sorely tested by people more interested in exploiting animals than protecting them, however: siblings Claire (Malin Akerman) and Brett (Jake Lacy) Wyden. Now an adult sheltered at a San Diego wildlife conservation park, George (mocap-acted by Jason Liles) is first and foremost Davis’ best friend. On one of his African enforcement patrols, Davis rescued juvenile albino gorilla George after poachers killed his mother. It helps that the filmmakers provide primatologist Davis Okoye (Johnson) with a badass backstory as a onetime special forces officer and former wildlife ranger to help establish his credentials. deliver solid domestic returns, while internationally Rampage could see an even stronger response. So even if this is fairly mindless popcorn entertainment, The Rock’s unfailing enthusiasm and poise should help Warner Bros. Whatever character he’s playing, though, there’s no denying Johnson’s abundant charisma and brawny brand of self-deprecating humor.
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