Movie · 2018 · Action, Adventure, Science Fiction · 1h 47m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 0.7/10 (425.9K ratings)
Big meets bigger.
Overview
Primatologist Davis Okoye 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 mutates this gentle ape into a raging creature of enormous size. To make matters worse, it’s soon discovered there are other similarly altered animals. As these newly created alpha predators 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.
Ratings
Curator score: 0.7/10
IMDb: 6.1/10
Letterboxd: 2.41/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 51%
Metacritic: 45
TMDB: 6.4/10
Director
Brad Peyton
Production
Wrigley Pictures, New Line Cinema, ASAP Entertainment, Flynn Picture Company, Twisted Media, Seven Bucks Productions
Cast
Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Åkerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello, Marley Shelton, P.J. Byrne, Demetrius Grosse, Jack Quaid, Breanne Hill, Matt Gerald, Will Yun Lee, Urijah Faber, Bruce Blackshear, Jason Liles, Mac Wells, Allyssa Brooke, Stephen Dunlevy, Danny Le Boyer
Where to watch
Max
Curator Review
Verdict
A loud, knowingly absurd monster spectacle that works best as a disposable big-screen creature feature. It has some fun with scale, destruction, and Dwayne Johnson’s straight-faced heroism, but the story is thin and the emotional beats are mostly window dressing.
Best for
Viewers who want a dumb-fun disaster movie with giant animals
Fans of over-the-top CGI destruction and fast pacing
Audiences who enjoy charismatic star vehicles that don’t take themselves seriously
Skip if
You want strong character writing or emotional depth
You’re allergic to obvious CGI and formula plotting
You prefer monster movies with more atmosphere, suspense, or originality
Overview
Rampage is exactly the kind of glossy, oversized studio nonsense that knows its job and does it with minimal shame. The appeal is simple: giant mutated animals, collapsing buildings, and a lead actor who can sell a ridiculous premise without winking too hard at it. When the movie leans into chaos, it has a crude but effective energy.
Worth noting
The problem is that everything between the set pieces feels engineered rather than lived-in. The plot is generic, the villainy is blunt, and the emotional connection to the central gorilla is more functional than moving. It’s not a disaster, but it rarely rises above being a competent delivery system for mayhem.
Bottom line
If you want a polished, aggressively unserious creature feature for a night when plot is optional, it can deliver. If you’re hoping for wit, suspense, or memorable monster-movie invention, it’s more likely to leave you shrugging than thrilled.
Top Letterboxd reviews
davidehrlich (1.5★) · 704 likes
It can be misleading to call a movie “critic-proof.” When this critic humbly concedes that “Rampage” is critic-proof, it’s not because the Rock could open a movie with a Rotten Tomatoes score of negative 12% and still cook up a small fortune. No, “Rampage” is only critic-proof because it’s one of the few studio films in recent history that’s too hollow to support any critical thought. Trying to say anything of substance about this standard-issue spectacle is like mounting a… more It can be misleading to call a movie “critic-proof.” When this critic humbly concedes that “Rampage” is critic-proof, it’s not because the Rock could open a movie with a Rotten Tomatoes score of negative 12% and still cook up a small fortune. No, “Rampage” is only critic-proof because it’s one of the few studio films in recent history that’s too hollow to support any critical thought. Trying to say anything of substance about this standard-issue spectacle is like mounting a… more
Patrick Willems (2.5★) · 630 likes
I wish I watched Transformers 3 instead
Matt Singer (3★) · 580 likes
I don’t say this lightly: The villain’s evil plan in Rampage may be the dumbest evil plan in the 120 year history of cinema.
(This is a good thing.)
Full review at ScreenCrush.
adambolt (1.5★) · 518 likes
GEORGE! GEORGE?? GEORGE! GEORGE?! GEORGE!!! GEORGE! GEORGE GEORGE GEORGE! GEORGE! GEORGE
Jack? (3★) · 494 likes
This is honestly the greatest film ever made. We can’t top this. It’s where we peak as a society. The Rock straight up fights a giant mutant monkey, giant mutant crocodile and giant mutant wolf at the same time. This film is nuts. Like, sure, I guess you could describe this film as ‘garbage.’ But I’d prefer to describe it as ‘cinema.’