Rampage

"When three different animals got infected with a dangerous pathogen, a primatologist and a geneticist must team up to stop them destroying Chicago." - IMDb

Title: RAMPAGE

Year: 2018 Directed By: Brad Peyton Written By: Ryan Engle, Carlton Cuse Duration: 1 hour 47 minutes Genre: Action Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan Language: English Score: 5/10

Dwayne Johnson is a superstar, no doubt about that. A lot of people got interested in movies that have Dwayne Johnson in it, whether it turns out to be bad (like Baywatch) or really good (like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle). What about this movie? I'd say it's a so-so, but let's break it down. 

WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT?

1. DESTRUCTION! HUGE WEAPONS! HUGE ANIMALS FIGHTING! WITH "THE ROCK"!

Yeay, yeay, yeay! That's how excited you feel when you see so many cool fight scenes. Be ready to get excited because this movie is full of them. The action scenes are really good to watch, sometimes they include jumpscares to make it better. And with huge savage animals, why wouldn't it be even more awesome, right? Plus they put The Rock in the middle of all that. "Big meets Bigger", exactly like the poster said. And in all of that, still PG 13 violence. Awesome!

2. VISUAL EFFECTS

Thankfully there's nothing disappointing about this one. It's great and pleasing to the eyes. You'll love how the fur of the gorilla is very detailed, and that also applies to all the other animals. The buildings and destruction also looked very real. 

WHAT'S NOT GOOD ABOUT IT?

1. ONE-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERS

Dwayne Johnson being Dwayne Johnson. Yup, he's that good, super bad ass guy with perfect background story to explain why he's so damn good at everything. He's got a heart of gold and physically indestructible. Remember that one time in Fast and Furious 7 where Dwayne Johnson broke his cast just by bending his arm ? (if you don't, you can watch it here) Yup, more of those in this movie. The movie world seems to love showing Dwayne Johnson as a superhuman even though his character clearly isn't. I love that guy, honestly, he's great to watch. If he's potraying a character like Dr. Bravestone in Jumanji, it's very logical if he runs like lightning and stuffs like that. That character is from a video game and it's logical if he's physically too perfect. But please, in this movie, he's potraying another human being with the same weaknesses as everyone else, not a superhero. So, be logical about it.

And the other characters are just boring. The villain only has one characteristic to show, as well as every other character. You can't fall in love with them or care enough to keep on wanting to know what happens to them next. Just,.... forgettable. 

2. A SIMPLE PLOT

Too mainstream, too often. The storyline is.... just like that. After you finished watching it, you'll feel like you didn't watch a masterpiece, just a movie. I wouldn't say it's too boring, you can't watch it. It's actually still watchable but you won't remember it for long. With this kind of plot, this movie will pass just like that. People won't talk about how bad it is or how good it is. It's definitely fun and doesn't require you to think to hard or try to solve the mystery with the character. Watchable but not to be remembered. 

WHAT'S SO-SO ABOUT IT?

THE JOKES

It's sometimes really funny and made almost all the audience laugh. But it's sometimes really lame, nobody even twitch their mouth. It's like they're written by different people with different sense of humor. And sad to say, there's more lame jokes than the good ones. 

PLOT HOLES (OR JUST ILLOGICAL THINGS)

(AS ALWAYS, SPOILER ALERT FOR THIS PART)

1. When Dwayne broke the ties / cuffs on his hands

Those things ("plastic cuffs / kabel tis) are seriously hard to break with your own hand. Dwayne broke the one around his wrists just by pulling his hands on different directions. Hm, not logical enough. Adding that, why didn't he break it before they entered the plane? He himself demanded Russell to cut them off before entering the plane. Why not just do it at that time? Or some other time before entering the plane? If you can do anything, why not break yourself free earlier?

2. He's shot but never seem to be in a lot of pain

Yup, he's shot around his abdomen, but because he's Dwayne Johnson, he didn't die, or even looked like he's in pain. He stood up straight, run around everywhere, and shot big animals as if he's super fine. Not slower than usual or anything else. Hey, you might even forgot he was shot just a few minutes ago. Except for when he put his hand on his wound with a little frown that lasted for three seconds, nothing else reminded you that he was shot. 

2. The capsules "accidentally" fell on places with lots of animals (mostly dangerous and aggressive, too) 

Not much more to explain, they just.... fell on "the right places" so the movie can happen. Why not in places that are so deserted, nobody got infected? Why not in a housing complex full of families? Oh, and also, out of all places, they fell in America (and other places near America, like Mexico, of course)

3. The bad guys' stupid escape plan 

They turned on the radio so the animals will go there. In the end, the plan didn't work out because the military can't kill them, so the bad guys tried to flee. They wanted to ride a helicopter which is on top of the building, near the tower that broadcasted the frequency. And then the animals came to destroy the tower, and of course at that time, they're also trying to get to the helicopter. When they knew their plan wasn't working because the animals are indestructible, why not turn off the radio first so they stopped coming to the building? And then flee. That'll be way safer, right? The animals will go destroy something else, and you fly safely. 

Okay, so there's my Rampage movie review. I'd say this movie isn't the best I've watched but I can't say it's the worst either. The action involving the animals are really great and enjoyable, one of the main reasons you watch the movie, I believe. Dwayne Johnson is still bad ass and full of action, but again showed as if he's superhuman when the character isn't. So overall, I don't recommend this movie. But if you're looking for a movie with a bunch of action and simple story, go for it.