So, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has had his name attached to this project for some time now, but in case you haven't heard, he is going to star in a live-action movie based on the video game Rampage. So I am here to tell you a little about what this game is and what it could mean for moviegoers.
What is Rampage?
Rampage was initially released in 1986 in arcades. You played as one of three monsters, George (The Gorilla), Lizzie (The Lizard) and Ralph (The Werewolf). These monsters were humans that were mutated via experiments at Scumlabs. The basic premise as these monsters is to wreck everything in your way, earning points by causing destruction, eating civilians, or eating power-ups that could be either helpful or harmful. Once you destroy one city, you move on to the next. All the while, the pesky military constantly bombards you, since they probably don't like you destroying everything.
I remember this game being some mindless fun. I'm always a fan of mass destruction in video games. Plus, for the mid-to-late 80's, this was graphically impressive, even on the home console ports. My time with the original game was spent mostly in arcades but a bit with the NES version, which I still enjoyed, even if it didn't do a great job of keeping my interest throughout.
The original Rampage made it to several home consoles and collections over the years, even coming to the Atari Lynx, which added a fourth character, Larry the Rat.
Though I will say, the most time I have spent with this franchise was in the arcades with Rampage: World Tour, the first sequel in the series. I remember when I was a child, being in a Saturday morning bowling league, and there being a World Tour machine back by the pool table. When I would finish my (respectable) 3 games of bowling, I would ask my folks for some quarters and spent quite some time destroying cities. I think I could even go back to that building today and remember exactly where that machine stood.
World Tour was basically just the original game with better graphics and more locations to destroy. Looking back, the controls were a mess and it wasn't nearly as fun as the original, but try telling that to a 10 - 12 year old Jeff who just wanted to watch the virtual world burn.
The theme of "these games really aren't that great" would continue throughout the series. After World Tour came: Rampage 2: Universal Tour, Rampage Through Time, Rampage Puzzle Attack, and Rampage Total Destruction which featured 30 monsters (40 for the Nintendo Wii). None of these games were particularly good as the games controls were rough and the action was pretty mind numbing.
Why Make A Movie On This?
That's actually a really good question.
Video game movies usually suck hard. If you need proof, just try watching movies like Super Mario Bros., BloodRayne, Street Fighter: The Movie, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Dead or Alive, Hitman, Double Dragon, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, Wing Commander, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead, Postal....do I need to go on?
There are some OK video game movies, to be fair. Prince of Persia was alright, I guess, and The Rock himself was in a somewhat entertaining at least video game movie with DOOM. Plus I think Karl Urban is an underrated actor. So, there is some hope this will be, at the very least, entertaining.
Part of me sees why they want to make a Rampage movie. There aren't many "Monster Movies" in America. The latest Godzilla was pretty alright, though the Godzilla movie that came before that was that one with Matthew Broderick and .......just.....ugh. So this could be a nice change of pace. Plus that video game nostalgia can bring in the gaming community.
Though, there is a list of games I would rather see a big screen release over a game like Rampage:
- Street Fighter (with today's innovations)
- Mortal Kombat (with today's innovations)
- Mass Effect (Call J.J. Abrams)
- Super Mario Bros. (Get Disney / Pixar on it)
- Legend of Zelda (Could you imagine if someone like Peter Jackson got his hands on this?)
- Starcraft (Which might happen WHEN Warcraft does well in theaters)
- Twisted Metal
- Metal Gear Solid (Kojima on the big screen? YES!)
I could go on, but you get the point.
Jeff, Are You Excited About A Rampage Movie?
I wouldn't say "excited", I would say "slightly interested". I think Dwayne Johnson is one of the coolest people alive and he is definitely on my bucket list of people to meet, and I'm glad he has some interest in the video game industry, but I can't sit here and say I am giddy with excitement. I guess we will see whenever we start seeing pictures and trailers. As of now, the Rampage movie is due out in 2017.
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