The Rampage Trailer Is a Bit More Serious Than I Was Expecting
Jonathan Barkan
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Video game adaptations are no stranger to Hollywood. From movies like Super Mario Bros. to Street Fighter to the Resident Evil franchise, Hollywood has long had its eye on popular video game titles, seeing them as fodder for big screen adaptations. Some of these make total sense, like Silent Hill or Assassin’s Creed.
Regardless of whether or not they’re good movies (something that’s purely subjective), titles like the ones I just mentioned are story-driven, which lends itself to the possibility of a wonderful on-screen narrative. However, there are titles that make absolutely zero sense, and Rampage is one of them.
The game is nothing more than players picking one of three giant monsters (a gorilla, wolf, or lizard) and then proceeding to beat the everliving crap out of cities until only rubble remains. It’s 100% fine that there’s basically nothing of substance behind such a game. Hell, loads of titles are there simply to promote having a good time over getting invested in some grand, sweeping story! But it certainly begs the question, “Why this game?”
Obviously Hollywood can make a spectacle of it, especially with the big budget VFX destruction sequences we’ve been seeing over the years. Plus, the Planet of the Apes films prove that animal CGI has come a long, long way in just a few years. So why is it that when I watch the Rampage trailer that I feel like Hollywood may once again have forgotten what made the game so great in the first place?
Look, I’m absolutely aware that first trailers usually don’t give a clear idea of what the final product will be. We’ve all been through that, and I’m perfectly happy to give Rampage the benefit of the doubt. But whoever made this trailer really wanted it to feel like something serious and gritty.
I guess we’ll know exactly what kind of movie Rampage really is when it hits theaters on April 20, 2018.
Rampage was directed by Brad Peyton and stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
Synopsis:
Primatologist Davis Okoye (Johnson), a man who keeps people at a distance, shares an unshakable bond with George, the extraordinarily intelligent silverback gorilla who has been in his care since birth. But a rogue genetic experiment gone awry transforms this gentle ape into a raging monster. To make matters worse, it’s soon discovered there are other similarly altered alpha predators.
As these newly created monsters tear across North America, destroying everything in their path, Okoye teams with a discredited genetic engineer to secure an antidote, fighting his way through an ever-changing battlefield, not only to halt a global catastrophe but to save the fearsome creature that was once his friend.
Categorized:News
