Director Brad Peyton is no stranger to Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson or action movies. The duo previously collaborated on Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and San Andreas. With Rampage, Peyton has The Rock save humanity, not from a natural disaster or falling rocks, but giant mutated animals, one of them being his best friend: George the Gorilla.
If we can come to one conclusion by looking at movies starring The Rock, it's that he will always save the day from a cartoon caricature type of villain, while being ultra charismatic and poking fun at himself from time to time. The Rock excels at this and makes his films entertaining no matter how convoluted the plot and even when they lack thrilling dynamics. With movies like Rampage and Skyscraper, The Rock appears to be remaking every 80's action movie with modern effects, but still leaving out logic, which is completely fine here and there.
Very loosely based off the old arcade game where giant monsters stampeded across a big city, The Rock stars a retired special ops military guy and now park ranger who communicates openly with his albino gorilla friend named George, whom he saved from poachers. Meanwhile, a sibling duo who runs a massive science lab has created this serum that makes animals large and super aggressive. One of these animals even managed to blow up a space station, which then hurled towards Earth with three different canisters of this serum falling in different parts of the country. A crocodile eats one, a wolf comes across another, and George finds the third. These three animals start to grow and wreak havoc, while the sinister siblings try and bring them together in Chicago to weaponize them. It's up to The Rock to get through to his gorilla friend and save the day.
A movie like Rampage hinges on the quality of its actions sequences and visual effects. I'm happy to report the action is quite good and the animals look pretty good too. However, the explosions and crumbling buildings look a bit silly and the pacing is on the slow side. Even at 107 minutes, it feels long. Yet, what really works well is The Rock's willingness and charm to have fun in this role with working with motion-capture. You can tell his character is closed off to everyone but George the Gorilla, as he struggles with George's aggressive, monstrous growth. At the end of the day, Rampage still has some fun moments, as the big action sequences are quite stellar, however, much of the film falls flat, even with The Rock saving the world.
Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Rampage includes a dual-layered UHD66 Disc, a Blu-ray Disc, and an insert for a Digital Copy. The discs are housed in a hard, black plastic case with a cardboard sleeve.
Rampage boasts a good 2160p UHD transfer with Dolby Vision (and HDR10) that has a lot of upsides. It's a solid upgrade from the 1080p Blu-ray version. Perceived details are improved -- you'll be able to count the individual hairs on George's body while background shots show destruction and debris quite nicely too without going soft. Also, primary colors are more vibrant and bold in every scene, while the HDR grading shows off the different shades of white on George the Gorilla.
Even with the wolf and reptilian monster, this Dolby Vision presentation showcases the many different secondary colors of their respective skins. With a big city in ruins and rubble, most of the colors can be a dusty brown or beige with tons of smoke. However, Dolby Vision's wider color gamut elevates a lone American flag flying in the wind with a bright and bold red, white, and blue. Black levels are deep and inky at all times without any crush, which comes into play in nighttime sequences. Human skin tones are also natural as well.
Positive attributes aside, several fiery explosions look quite fake in 4K HDR, especially when compared to the rest of the visual effects work. We also noticed minor noise cropping up at times, but overall there are no major issues with this video presentation.
Rampage features an impressive, dynamic, and generally big-sounding Dolby Atmos track that hits all of the high and low notes needed for a big action blockbuster. Yet, it's also a track that quiets down to smaller atmospheric moments, like when The Rock and George are communicating. In these scenes, voices carry a natural reverb and softness. On the opposite end of things, the three monsters bring the noise level to an 11 with tons of height sound effects. Helicopters, planes, gunshots, and monsters wandering around all bring an intense noise to the soundscape above, and when buildings crumble, it feels like debris is raining downwards. Directionality is also impressive, be it people screaming or monsters swooping into action or bullets flying everywhere. Explosions and monster roars provide ample bass that keeps this low end running full. The score always adds to the suspense of each scene without drowning anything else out. Dialogue is clear and easy to follow along, and free of any pops, cracks, hiss, and shrills.
Not A Game Anymore (HD, 6 Mins.) - Cast and crew interviews talk about their love for the old arcade game that the movie is based on, along with some information of easter eggs that are spread out through the film.
Rampage: Actors in Action (HD, 11 Mins.) - This showcases all the big stunts and action sequences in the film as the actors prepare for their own stunts, which looked grueling and fun at the same time.
Trio of Destruction (HD, 10 Mins.) - These are all the amazing visual effects that were utilized to bring the three monsters to life, especially in the final battle sequence.
Attack on Chicago (HD, 11 Mins.) - This focuses on filming on location in the city of Chicago, which was one of the big set pieces in the film.
Bringing to George to Life (HD, 12 Mins.) - This awesome extra shows us how the actor performed as a gorilla under motion capture, which is truly incredible.
Gag Reel (HD, 3 Mins.) - A short montage of flubbed lines, missed cues, laughter, and mistakes on set.
Deleted Scenes (HD, 10 Mins.) - 7 deleted scenes were left on the cutting room floor, none of which are needed in the final product.
Rampage is a big action monster movie that stars The Rock. You know what you're gonna get -- explosions, one-liners, The Rock saving the day, and three big monsters destroying a city. Does any of it make sense? No, not really, but it's entertaining and fun.
This 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray's Dolby Vision presentation is excellent as is the Dolby Atmos track. I wish there was a Rock commentary track, but the 60 mutes worth of extras are all fun and informative. Highly Recommended for action junkies and fans who have a 4K display.
Leave A Comment
