Our latest Cinema trip was to see the latest big action film starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson reteaming him with his San Andreas & Journey 2 director Brad Peyton.
Rampage is the latest film to be based on an Arcade game, which in the past have not produced the best films so it would be interesting to see if this one would buck that trend.
The film opens with a space station under attack from a mutating rat which it’s only surviving crew member, Dr. Kerry Atkins (Marley Shelton) is trying to escape.
Her escape has been hindered as she has been ordered to save the research canisters of the experiments on this mutating creature. If she does then her employers, the ‘Wyden’s’ Claire (Malin Ackerman) and Brett (Jake Lacy) will release the escape pod she needs to leave the space station. Atkins manages to save the canisters but not before the space station explodes, releasing the canisters over San Diego with disastrous results.
The outcome of which, we first see is in a rare Albion Gorilla, named George, who is starting to expand in size, alarming his primatologist trainer, Davis (The Rock)
Davis has worked closely with George, teaching him sign language to be able to communicate together and to reassure him that not all humans are evil, having rescued him from poachers, who killed all his family. Davis is especially worried as a grizzly bear has been killed and the normally calm and restrained George is the prime suspect.
This has alerted Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris) the genetic engineer behind the pathogen within the canisters, we learn she had developed to be used as a cure but the Wyden’s see more financial benefits selling it for those want to use it as a chemical weapon and fired her, for trying to expose them.
When the government sends a team led by Agent Harvey (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to capture George and arrest Kate, the Wyden’s send out a team led by Burke (Joe Manganiello) to retrieve the other canisters.
They find a wolf (Ralph) has also been subjected to the same gas as George and has grown and the team is quickly devoured. The Wyden’s follow this up by releasing a large high pitch sound from their offices which these over sized creatures (which we soon learn now include Lizzie an Alligator( by the name but believe it’s a crocodile)
The sound brings as George brings down the plane he is on, as he, Ralph and Lizzie head to San Diego as the film enters its final showdown which will, as you would expect, includes plenty of destruction and explosions, which surely can only be stopped by The Rock!
The final third of this film with the 3 creatures attacking San Diego is a true highlight of the film, yet the trouble is it takes so long to get there. It just felt dull and only really improves when the animals are on screen, it doesn’t drag but sadly it is just another generic CGI blockbuster which is a fun watch but you may have forgotten about it by the time you have got home!
You can watch the trailer here, as well as get the App to have the creatures attack your home:
Pre-order the film from Amazon here:
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