Random Movie Review - Rampage

2016 was a dark year for a number of reasons. Among those reasons were the video game films. Many critics and fans hoped that 2016's set of video game films would see the formula be taken as seriously as superhero films are, but this never happened as each of the films while not completely bad, all ended up being absolute rubbish. So here we are two years later and Warner Bros. decides to enter the fray by bringing us two video game films with one being based on our favourite female tomb raider and another based on a Midway franchise. Today we look at the latter which despite only being loosely based on the game, its apparently the best reviewed live action video game film, currently sitting at 53% on Rotten Tomatoes of all things. So let's see if its worth the watch:

During an experiment on animals in a satellite in space, the experiment goes haywire which causes many of the crew to be all but wiped out. One survivor remains, but despite managing to save the samples from the experiment, she too perishes in the process. The samples meanwhile land in a few places on Earth which are in turn consumed by an American crocodile, a grey wolf and a rare albino gorilla named George (portrayed via motion capture by Jason Liles). Primatologist and former US Army Special Forces officer Davis Okoye (played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) who trains George and communicates to him via sign language, notices that he is behaving unusually hostile towards other animals and growing at a rapid pace. He then gets contacted by genetic engineer Dr. Kate Caldwell (played by Tia Dalma and Miss Moneypenny herself, Naomie Harris) who explains to him of the samples and that she knew about the company behind them wanting to make the samples into a biological weapon and of course, got fired for tampering in their plans for such. The duo team up to find and stop the other monsters while taking care of George and the company responsible, alongside the help of an unusual ally in the form of government CIA agent Harvey Russell (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, aka Negan).

I think its good that the film makers chose to make the film to be only loosely based on the video games. In some franchises where the film makers or show runners follow things loosely, it allows it to stand on its own and be its own thing. Although it is sometimes known to potentially pi** off the fans when not down right. Its a traditional summer blockbuster where everything aims to be big and on a grand scale and its well acted by all the cast (which I expect nothing less from the three main roles). The story could've been worked on better and the acting of the villains gave away the fact that they are villains early on which is possibly a minor point that most people did not pick up. Its worth at least one watch if anything, but not enough for me to watch again and again. In other words, its watchable, but there can be room for improvement in a number of areas. Plus if there is a sequel, I hope they do better in that film. 7/10