Rampage Review: Monstrous Entertainment

Many video games have made the jump to silver screen with some adaptations being more successful than others. However if there was one video game that I never expected to be told in a celluloid format it would be the game Rampage. Rampage is a game series where you played as giant monsters who are tasked to destroy city after city. Now these colossal beasts burst on to the big screen in a spring blockbuster directed by Brad Peyton. Like most adaptations Rampage looked to break away from its source by bringing a new spin on the video game concept, but despite the changes Rampage seemed like a standard blockbuster. Going into this movie I did not have the highest expectations for Rampage, and this may have been a good mindset to have as I found myself quite entertained with this adaptation.

Rampage centers on Davis (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) a primatologist who gets caught in a destructive situation after his ape George (Jason Liles) is transformed into massive mutant. The plot of Rampage was as simple as one could get. If you have seen the film’s trailer then odds are you probably know how this story plays out. However was this matter of simplicity a bad thing for the story? In my opinion no, it was not;in fact the plot’s straightforward storytelling was both appropriate and appreciated.  Some details got lost in delivery but even with its inconsistency the story still worked. The plot was entertaining as it never got boring and, much to my surprise, the story’s structure was paced remarkably well. When it came down to it Rampage was a story about giant monsters destroying things and the movie never strayed from this concept-which made this monstrous tale all the more enjoyable.