Primate researcher Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson) rescued albino silverback gorilla George from brutal poachers several years ago. Since then, the two have shared a friendship that is closer than most relationships Davis has with his fellow humans. But then George is infected with the virus of an illegal gene experiment and suddenly the loving gorilla turns into a huge, violent monster. But that's not all: other animals have also been infected and mutated. They now lay waste to their surroundings, while Davis, along with geneticist Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris), desperately tries to find an antidote. But the time he has left to save George grows ever scarcer with each attack by the rampaging mutations that inexorably close in on Chicago, a metropolis of millions.
Rampage - Big meets Bigger is the third collaboration between megastar Dwayne Johnson and director Brady Peyton, following San Andreas and The Voyage to Mysterious Island. In the film adaptation of the classic Atari game Rampage, the two are again fully in their element - Johnson as an action hero with muscles and heart and Peyton as a conductor of spectacular orgies of destruction. As in San Andreas, this looks great and actually has some decent wow effects to offer. But dramaturgically, the whole thing is once again total dreck.
The characters are walking clichés, with one-dimensional character sketches and incredibly dumb dialogue making for occasionally unintentionally hilarious moments. Sure, you can tell Malin Akerman in particular had fun playing a completely over-the-top beast-in-chief. But even if you don't take the whole thing too seriously, you have to roll your eyes in annoyance more than once when moralistic speeches about the bad in people are made or when completely infantile humour is used.
The film is astonishingly honest in the scene where Davis - and thus the audience - gets to see the mutated crocodile for the first time. His comment "That really sucks" is amusingly ambiguous, given the really stupid-looking monster. The effects are very well done, only the design of the mutations leaves a lot to be desired. Sometimes the whole thing seems a little trashy despite excellently worked out details.
Rampage - Big meets Bigger is nevertheless very entertaining in its way in places. However, there are also quite a few plodding moments and the final act, in which the three mutations haunt Chicago, is quite tedious in the long run. Fans of Dwayne Johnson and of very simple monster action will get their money's worth. But if you're more afraid of clichés and flat dialogues than of giant mutant crocodiles, you'd better buy a ticket for another movie. Worth seeing with reservations!
