Before the lackluster reappearance of the legendary lady Lara Croft in Tomb Raider 2018, the bomb curse seemed to persist in the game-based movie genre in general, as well as the “giant” Warner Bros. in particular. However, the masterpiece Ready Player One , also released by this company at the end of March, has more or less aroused confidence in the gaming community and movie lovers about a brighter future for this film series.
Not only that, when the Ready Player One fever has not yet cooled down, Warner Bros. continues to make mass audiences scream with joy with Rampage (Vietnamese title: Super Beast Rage) , the latest brainchild based on the famous 80s video game of the same name.
Skillful in adaptation
After many years of traveling around fierce battlefields, frustrated by the cruel and greedy nature of humans, special agent Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson – The Rock ) decided to hang up his sword and study spirituality. high school and went to the forest to be friends with monkeys. One day, he saved an albino gorilla from bloodthirsty hunters and took it to be cared for at a Colorado reserve. Time has passed, and the monkey named George is now the majestic leader of the pack and Davis’ own “soul friend”, although muddy but very trustworthy.
At that time, the space research station belonging to Engyne Corporation exploded due to a stupid experiment, causing blocks of samples containing active ingredients with the ability to change the structure of the genome to fall to earth. George accidentally came into contact with them, causing his body to grow unusually large and his personality to become more and more ferocious. In order to find a cure for the poor gorilla, David agreed to cooperate with former Engyne employee, Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris), to expose the biological weapon manufacturing project “The Rampage”. Project” is headed by the Wayden CEO sisters.
George, Davis’s “perverted” best friend.
If you don’t say it out loud, many audiences will surely mistakenly believe that Rampage was inspired by the trend of making movies about giant monsters that was very popular in the 50s of last century. But it turns out that the movie is inspired by the slot game series that was popular in the US in the 80s. Originally adapted from a game with simple gameplay, the movie version is sure to satisfy veteran gamers because A series of eye-catching explosion scenes as each monster destroys everything on the way until the climactic battle between them in the city of Chicago.
Even all three super beasts in Rampage are built, closely following the image of the “holy trinity” appearing in the first game produced in 1986: the resilient gorilla George, the agile gray wolf Ralph. and the Central American crocodile, Lizzie, is slow but has a “buffalo” level of tenacity. As for their origin, they were changed almost completely to improve the logic and rationality of the work.
From left to right: Lizzie the crocodile, Ralph the gray wolf and George the gorilla.
Belonging to the true “school” of meat and sticky rice blockbusters, Rampage possesses simple, easy-to-understand linear content and focuses on scoring points with epic special effects scenes. However, director Brad Peyton still knows how to vary the story line to help viewers feel new with the first half of the film having thrilling, sensational colors mixed with gentle humorous elements; The second half is more action-oriented and dramatic.
George – Impressive version of “Mr. Cong Quang Binh”
For those who regularly learn about the animal world, it will be easy to discover that George was inspired by Snowflake, the only albino gorilla in the world (Snowflake passed away in 2003). As for movie fans, George is an interesting hybrid between two pop culture icons: the king of Skull Island, King Kong, and Caesar, the intelligent chimpanzee in the Planet of the Apes prequel trilogy. ). Thanks to being raised and taught by Davis since childhood, George is very friendly and can use sign language to communicate with people.
The difference that made George unmistakable from his two predecessors was his somewhat muddy and unmatched personality. This big, hairy friend loves to tease Davis with countless 18+ jokes, such as the middle finger gesture. However, when he gained weight when mutated, the white version of “Mr. Cong” proved to be no less than the original owner with spectacular climbing and hanging moves and many extremely powerful and beautiful close combat moves. .
“The Rock” The Rock maintains the title of meat and sticky rice hero
After appearing in the famous racing series Fast & Furious (Too Fast, Too Furious), Dwayne Johnson gradually became a reputable name to sponsor the series of commercial blockbusters in which he participated. Although he came from a difficult background and first encountered cinema at the age of thirty in the name of an amateur wrestler acting in movies, The Rock quickly proved his strength through his advancement. The set is clearly seen through each role. He is gradually recognized by everyone as the perfect successor to the title of muscular hero, following in the footsteps of veteran seniors Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone…
In Rampage, Dwayne Johnson has to share space for giant super beasts to attack each other, but every frame in which he appears is very impressive. Transforming into primatologist Davis, he plays an important role in connecting the two lines of beauty (and not so beauty) and monsters. In addition to the action scenes showing off his toned body, The Rock also made the audience sobbing and moved by his beautiful, close friendship with the monkey George.
One-way entertainment
Of course, because it is a pure meat and sticky rice blockbuster mixed with fantasy elements, Rampage also makes common basic mistakes. First of all, although the male lead Davis Okoye is not mutated like George, he possesses endurance and flexibility not inferior to the DC superhero group, plus a will stronger than iron and steel: from airplanes. Falling, collapsing houses, and monsters running away did not make Davis flinch or feel discouraged. The supporting characters and villains are lackluster, some are so clearly redundant that they could be directly removed from the film without any significant impact on the story line.
Furthermore, if you observe carefully, you will see that the CGI graphic effects used to design the giant monsters have not really been carefully cared for. George’s movements and facial expressions are still far inferior to the smooth, lively look of King Kong in Kong: Skull Island (Skull Island – 2017) or the chimpanzee Caesar in the prequel trilogy Planet of Apes. In particular, the image of Ralph the wolf sometimes looks quite sloppy, rough and fake. The photo below will demonstrate this.
Overall, Rampage has completed its mission well by providing hours of comfortable entertainment for viewers. After Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle released late last year, Rampage continues to be a memorable work in star Dwayne Johnson’s acting career.
