Rampage (April 20, 2018) (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

Spoiler

He has a line about that. She asks if he's okay, and he says something like, "Yeah, it's better not to worry about it!" which I took as a fun joke about the absurdity of the situation.

 

[Malcolm R]

Spoiler

Thick pads of muscle that obviously act as body armor and minimize the damage.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

So I've been thinking. Obviously not important thoughts.

Spoiler

When the Rock's character is shot, how the hell does he recover?

Answer:

Spoiler

He's the Rock - what are you, an idiot????

 

[Hanson]

The Rock is basically the new Tom Cruise -- plug him into any action vehicle and he can use his charisma and his comedic chops to turn any sow's ear into a silk purse. And I gotta tell you, Johnson's acting has come a long way since The Scorpion King. He's a bona fide actor now, but even more, he's a bona fide comic actor, and that's even harder to pull off. But go watch Central Intelligence, and you can see how he gives real emotional layers to his character, like how he's The Rock on the outside but a dorky fat kid on the inside. They didn't even have to use exposition to get that across because he sold it. The only thing unbelievable about his performance is his ridiculous physique -- for the most part, the characters he plays don't need to be built like that.

That said, OMG, Rampage is a blast. It's not a "great" film, but it's so ridiculously and constantly entertaining it's verging on that label. The two biggest plusses are the Johnson and the creature CGI, which is really high level stuff. George, Lizzy, and Ralph "feel" real. That helps sell everything, including everything that doesn't actually make sense. And George feels even more expressive and real than the apes in Reeves' PoTA series. The fact that a non-speaking CGI ape in a live action movie could me make laugh out loud multiple times is actually an achievement.

It's hard to say it's "great" because it's also so unapologetically dumb, but it will probably end up on my year end top ten list. It was that much fun.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I actually think Johnson seems to have "plateaued" as an actor. I saw good progression over the years but a while now, he seems locked into specific traits/personality choices that don't go beyond that.

"Pain and Gain" might be the last time I can recall that he gave a real performance - since then he tends to play variations on a theme...

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Did you see Central Intelligence? That came out after Pain & Gain and is a very different performance than Johnson has given in other films.

I don’t think he’s plateaued so much as that he’s now a movie star, perhaps the last one we have. Movie stars are recognizable from role to role; I just see it as Johnson having a persona and wanting his audiences to have a certain feel leaving his films. I read a great interview with him in Rolling Stone where he mentioned that he almost walked away from Rampage over a script disagreement. The original draft had a downer ending where the gorilla died and Johnson was against that. He said that he was against that because the promise implicit between him and his audience was that they could see one of his films and walk out feeling better than when they walked in, and that the ending didn’t fit with that philosophy. He wasn’t opposed to playing against type but felt there needed to be a compelling reason for him to do so. In other words, he wasn’t going to appear in a movie that was 95% fun and then out of nowhere left a bad taste in the audience’s mouth as they left the theater.

And this is why I have tickets preordered for Skyscraper. And this is why my little brothers were able to get me to watch WWF back in the day when that was his main gig - because he knows how to satisfy an audience.

I really think he’s the last movie star.

I thought that it would have been Tom Hanks or Tom Cruise in that spot, but their audience appeal seems to have faded. People will go out to see the next Mission Impossible, but they don’t have interest in Cruise as a headliner if it’s not a property they’re already committed to. Same with Hanks, and maybe even less so, since his most recent Da Vinci Code movie made very little box office impact. It’s the material that opens the movie now, not the cast. Johnson may be the last exception to that.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Did you see Central Intelligence? That came out after Pain & Gain and is a very different performance than Johnson has given in other films.

I did see it, and apparently I liked DJ a lot:

"Johnson fares best, though, mainly because he gives Bob such a goofy feel. Rather than turn Bob into a standard slick/tough secret agent – like his part in the Fast and Furious franchise - Johnson retains the character’s inner nerd. This allows Bob a vulnerability rare in a part like this.

To his credit, Johnson doesn’t overplay Bob’s traits. He still allows us to believe that Bob can be a trained killer/super spy but he delivers a delightfully earnest take on a character who still suffers from the wounds of high school. Johnson helps the movie immensely."

Okay, I amend my earlier comment and will not claim that DJ offers the same performance all the time - just most of the time!

And I do tend to like him a lot more in comedic performances. He was pretty good in "Jumanji", whereas he seemed like a stiff in "Rampage"...

 

[Malcolm R]

Yay! Received a notice today that my 3D Rampage has shipped from Best Buy.

 

[Johnny Angell]

And I do tend to like him a lot more in comedic performances. He was pretty good in "Jumanji", whereas he seemed like a stiff in "Rampage"...

I thought he was good in Rampage. When I get my UK disc check out his performance again.

Yay! Received a notice today that my 3D Rampage has shipped from Best Buy.

No indication from Amazon UK yet.

Edit: Just checked. It's not going to be delivered until early September!

 

[deltamind]

I have yet to watch this movie, the comments above are suggesting it's a great movie to watch.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I have yet to watch this movie, the comments above are suggesting it's a great movie to watch.

I think it’s more accurate to say it’s a fun movie to watch. If you like the giant monster movies like I do, you’ll enjoy it.

 

[Tino]

I think it’s more accurate to say it’s a fun movie to watch. If you like the giant monster movies like I do, you’ll enjoy it.

And it’s more entertaining than his current film Skyscraper imo.

 

[Malcolm R]

And it’s more entertaining than his current film Skyscraper imo.

Dwayne always seems better when he's acting with giant animals: Mysterious Island, Jumanji, Rampage, Vin Diesel....

 

[TJPC]

We usually go to a movie because we have seen a trailer, read reviews, or because it is part of an ongoing series we like. Dwayne Johnson, is the only actor that makes us consider any movie he is part of. We see the title of the movie, that he is in it, and we are interested.

 

[Robert Crawford]

And it’s more entertaining than his current film Skyscraper imo.

I have no interest in Skyscraper. I've already seen two of his movies within the past seven months and that's enough for me.