This is a movie that I was anticipating a bit because of two factors: 1) it has a big monster in the movie sort of reminiscent of King Kong and he is wrecking some architecture and other parts of the city to defeat another monster. 2) Of course, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson because of his commitment and determination into every role he puts in whether if it is good or bad. But, there is one genre that is against his odds and that is his upcoming Rampage is based on a video game. Granted, he was in a movie of sorts recently but it is based of made-up video game. And, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was fun, adventurous and hilarious. But, he was in Doom and that did not work out well. Now, he has stepped onto another territory and it is better than that movie and could be the best video game adaptation in a very long time. It is not saying much because besides the main stars, it is noticeable that the filmmakers did not enough much time in the other characters or some of the story.
Former US military soldier and current primatologist Davis Okoye (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) is working in the San Diego preserve. He befriends a rare white albino gorilla named George, after rescuing him from poachers. As David left the preserve for the night, George is exposed to a pathogen that is left in his habitat that causes him to exponentially grow at a fast rate. In addition to his growth, George becomes more aggressive overnight.
Davis is contacted by Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris), a genetic engineer, who explains to him that the pathogen was created and made by a company that rewrites genes on a massive scale. The company is planning to use it as an advanced biological weapon. Because of her attempt to uncover it, Caldwell was arrested and fired. Afterwards, George is captured by a government team led by a government agent named Harvey Russell (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) from an undisclosed agency. Meanwhile, the villainous Claire Wyden (Malin Åkerman) and her brother, Brett (Jake Lacy) sends a group of soldiers to capture a wolf but all get killed. So, there are bigger problems because of that exposure of the infection.
The premise works, however, I did not think it was executed well as I did not buy the company's reasoning regarding mutation and to expose those animals as weapons. I wanted to go deeper and explore that purpose and maybe explore some context and issues regarding animal behavior and animal abuse. But, no, it only concentrates on basically the terror and disaster as the monsters destroys a green-screen Chicago, which is not as bad, but it is the main highlight of the movie. Honestly, I was grinning throughout the action sequences as the monsters are attacking the city and it is George against a wolf and a crocodile. I was thinking, "It is weird but it makes more sense than Transformers."
I only bought Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a character as he interacts with his fellow buddy, George, as it is another "boy and his dog" story except "man and a gorilla" story. The interaction works as you feel some emotional connection between them and then you root for Johnson's character and George to get through this. Jeffrey Dean Morgan delivers a southern accent but chews up the scenery with such devilish charisma that you do not know what side he will end up in. I actually liked how they developed his character. Naomie Harris is fine but except during the climactic action sequence, she does not have as much to do. Joe Manganiello is underused and the villain played by Åkerman was weak and thin and she just portrayed a one-dimensional CEO who sees the animals as weapons and cause of destruction.
Director Brad Peyton and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has a decent chemistry when collaborating as they both were involved in Journey 2 and San Andreas (a sort of guilty pleasure). But, this movie did not work because I did not care as much for the story as I did with the two main characters. I thought the first two-thirds to the best sequence in the movie was a bit of a mess in terms of narrative. The movie did not elicit as much of a giddy response because there was not much to grasp on in terms of the other characters and the screenplay. The dialogue is not that great. So, if you want to go in for the action and the cheesy dialogue, this is your cup of tea. This movie almost reaches across the border of a good movie but does not quite reach it.
**1/2
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