The downloadable movie Rampage stars Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson as a zoo biologist, and is based on the popular arcade game by Midway. In the world of movies, video game adaptations are often received poorly. However, Dwayne Johnson has become a massive star in Hollywood, and his performances are often entertaining enough that they transform poor movies into acceptable ones. Rampage is a bit of a conundrum in that way.
How to Stream or Download Rampage
To start streaming or downloading Rampage click on the Download link at the end of the movie review. You can obtain the full movie from iTunes and it is available in many languages. The much sought Hindi and Tamil might not be available though.
If you like movies with Dwayne Johnson be sure also To stream or to download and check out Furious 7 (2015), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) or Skyscraper (2018). Few know that he was also the demigod Maui’s voice from the Disney’s Moana (2016).
The Film Review
The original arcade game is pretty basic; you control massive monsters as they ruin metropolitan cities. The movie doesn’t have much to go off of in terms of plot, but as a popcorn blockbuster, it has plenty of potential. Does Rampage buck the trend of unsatisfactory video game adaptations, or is this another bummer in a long line of disappointment?
As expected, Rampage has a paper-thin plot, but it serves the main focus of the story well enough. The movie focuses on Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson), a caretaker of primates at the San Diego Zoo. Davis shares a special bond with an ape named George, and Davis relishes in spending time with the friendly animal. Meanwhile, a shady government organization run by forgettable antagonists run dangerous chemical experiments on animals.
For the most part, Rampage is as predictable as you’d expect a summer blockbuster about giant animals to be. During one of the animal experiments (which take place in space, mind you), something goes horribly wrong, sending canisters of the experimental chemicals down to Earth. George the ape eventually comes across one of these crash-landed canisters, and the effects of the toxin slowly make him grow in size and become more aggressive. As George starts to wreak havoc around the zoo and other reports of huge animals come in, it’s up to Okoye to investigate and save the day.
Honestly, Rampage falls flat in almost every conceivable way. The plot is boring and it takes far too long for the action to get going. The characters are forgettable, including both protagonists and antagonists. We rarely see any character development with the exception of Davis Okoye, and several characters are introduced early on and are never seen again.
The antagonists are incredibly cookie-cutter, and their motivations for almost destroying the world are silly and unbelievable. Fortunately, Dwayne Johnson does a decent job dealing with the shoddy script. So does Naomi Harris, who plays the muted female lead, Dr. Kate Caldwell. Besides these two decent performances, the rest of the movie is almost entirely forgettable, except for the climax of the movie.
Like any great summer blockbuster, things eventually go sideways, resulting in a massive action scene in a crowded city. The final sequence is a great spectacle and an honestly fun adaptation of the arcade gameplay. Watching three massive animal beasts fight each other and destroy a city is incredibly entertaining, and I was honestly impressed with how good it was.
The final action scene in Rampage feels like the best parts of a great Godzilla fight, mixed with some solid special effects and CGI work. The first hour of Rampage did nothing but bore me, but as soon as the action kicked in earnest, I was surprisingly hooked.
Ultimately, Rampage is a disappointment in terms of video game adaptations, but it manages to be bearable as an action film. Without the final city fight, Rampage would be a complete waste of time. However, it manages to create an action scene so fun and uproarious that it’s not hard to forgive the rest of its flaws. If you go into Rampage with these expectations, you might have a good time. That said, it’s hard to recommend a movie that is mostly bad with the exception of an entertaining final scene.
