Rampage

Growing up as a kid, i loved playing video games. My dad bought me my very first Nintendo station, back in the early 80´s and i played so many classics, constantly. Let´s be honest, how many of you did not love the cult game The Legend Of Zelda ? I actually tried this game earlier this spring again, and even if the game is old, it is still a great game. Most of all, i played most games on Amiga 500 during the early 90´s. This was where i really started collecting games, of all kinds. Amiga 500 had so many great games to offer, and i remember that i especially loved the Turrican games. Shoot out games, that were perfect for Saturday mornings with sandwiches and hot chocolate. They did release Super Turrican on Super Nintendo as well, and i was lucky to try it at a school friends house. As i got a bit older, i moved on to PlayStation, and for some reason did not care anymore about playing Amiga 500 games, so i basically gave it all away. Of course, since the game industry was changing and PlayStation was extremely popular, i focused on new games instead. Even until today i am playing pretty new games on Xbox One, and i love the way video games have developed, especially becoming so great in story telling and strong characters. Let´s not forget the amazing graphics some games have, there is a bright future for the video game industry. But i have to admit, it is nice to play old games sometimes, for nostalgic reasons. Recently i played the Sega game Altered Beast, where you fight monsters and transform into a monster yourself. I just downloaded the game to my cell phone, that works perfectly fine. Speaking of monsters, how many of you remember the Arcade game Rampage, released in 1986 ? The game is pretty simple, destroy buildings and destroy cars in a city as a monster, and if you manage to destroy all the buildings, you go to the next level. But there is military ready to kill you, so you might as well attack them as well. i have learned that Rampage have had several of sequels released, and i have not played any of them. Only the original game, and i still think this is a fun classic. Since Hollywood is doing anything they can to find new movie projects, i heard about their idea of making a movie, loosely based on the video game. There are good movies based on video games out there, just look at the 2006 film Silent Hill, and you can tell that they can do it, with the right director and a great cast. After reading about Rampage coming to cinemas this spring, i watched the trailer and it seemed like fun. Since i enjoy most of Dwayne Johnson´s films, of course i had to see this one as well. Could this film called Rampage be the best video game adaptation released for a long time, or does this film prove why its not a good idea to make a movie based on a video game ?

Athena-1, a research space station owned by gene manipulation company Energyne, is destroyed after a mutated laboratory rat attacks. Dr. Kerry Atkins ( Marley Shelton ) is the only survivor on Athena-1, and she is ordered by Energyne´s CEO Claire Wyden ( Malin Åkerman ) to retrieve research canisters containing a pathogen. Dr. Kerry manage to flee in the escape pod, after the mutated rat tried to stop her. But a crack in the window, make the escape pod disintegrate. The canisters head towards Earth, where they land on different locations, where a crocodile in Everglades become mutated, and a wolf in the forest of Wyoming. Primatologist Davis Oyke ( Dwayne Johnson ) , a former US Army Special Forces soldier, works at the San Diego Wildlife Sanctuary, a wildlife preserve. Here he especially work with an Albino gorilla named George, where Davis use sign language to communicate with George. One night, one of the canisters lands in George´s habitat, and George is exposed to the pathogen. Davis can tell George is changing, and growing far more than any gorilla would. He is also becoming more aggressive. David is contacted by Dr. Kate Caldwell ( Naomie Harris ), a genetic engineer who explain what George have been exposed to. She explain that she had hope using the CRISP research to potentially cure diseases, but the company Energyne are in fact planning to use it as a biological weapon. As they find out about other mutated animals attacking, Davis and Dr. Kate have no other choice, they must find an antidote and finish this chaos.

When i first heard that a movie was going to be made, based on the classic video game Rampage, i was skeptical. Not because Dwayne " The Rock " Johnson would be in the lead role, but if this would be a good movie adaptation to a video game. And i am glad to say, this is not an awful video game movie. In fact, this film does manage to throw in some classic elements from the game, and make some scenes look pretty majestic. Now, if you are expecting amazing performances, and a great plot, this is probably not the right film to watch. However, if you love monster action films, i have a feeling that Rampage will match your taste. This is the kind of film that is made for a popcorn evening, when you just want to see pure action entertainment, mixed with video game influences. I am not surprised why Dwayne Johnson is in this film, he is a great main character as Davis Okoye, and he proves once again why he really works well in action films. So of course this is a good choice, especially in a film where he fights against monsters. In the rest of the cast we find some highlights as well, especially from the character Claire Wyden, played by Malin Åkerman. She is a strong female character, and i have to say that Malin manage to give this character the right kind of rough look. Another great character is David´s science back up Dr. Kate Caldwell, played by actor Naomie Harris. She fits well with the story, and you get a sense that she takes her job seriously, and knows how to handle the situation. Let´s not forget to mention legendary actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan as government agent Harvey Russel. He may not have a lot of screen time, but it feels good to see Jeffrey Dean do another character that fits him. Imagine a mixture of Godzilla, and the monsters from Pacific Rim, and you kind of know what this turns out to be. Rampage is however not as good as the first Pacific Rim movie, or as good as the 2014 version of Godzilla. If you can accept this, i still think you will find yourself enjoying this movie adaptation. And for being a video game adaptation of a classic Arcade game, i don´t think this is a bad version. I can imagine that some fans of the classic games might see some problems with this film, how the adaptation looks like. I  still feel that his film does get the feeling from the game, at least in the end when you see the monsters crawling on buildings, destroying cars and eating people. And if you have played the game, i think you will recognize the monsters especially, perhaps a bit improved since the 80´s look. Rampage is probably not going to be appreciated by everyone, but that´s ok. I happen to like monster films, especially if we get great looking CGI fights and Dwayne Johnson kicking ass. I suggest you give Rampage a chance, and you might actually enjoy it.

Rating: DDD