'Rampage' Trailer: Dwayne Johnson Takes On A Trio Of Giant Monsters

Rampage, one of the most simplistic arcade games of all time, is now a giant event movie starring Dwayne Johnson. The world's most charismatic movie star takes on a trio of giant animals (one of whom is his best buddy) in the video game adaptation, which is based on an experience that has no plot, no characters, and little do to beyond mash a button to smash buildings. Is this just crazy enough to work? Could this be the movie to finally break the dreaded video game adaptation curse?

Watch the first Rampage trailer below so you can muster an opinion.

Rampage re-teams Johnson with San Andreas director Brad Peyton, making this feel like a spiritual sequel of sorts to that 2015 disaster movie. But while San Andreas was about Mother Nature wreaking havoc on the west coast of the United States, Rampage is the latest tale of science going too far. Specifically, three animals, including an ape named George who is Johnson's best buddy, are transformed into giant, rampaging monsters. Oops. Bad, science! Bad!

Johnson, with his impossible physique and bottomless well of charm, is a walking, talking special effect on his own. Even if the monsters in Rampage are cool, he's the chief selling point here. While I didn't care much for San Andreas (it may be one of the stupidest big budget movies of the past decade), I can't help but be intrigued here. After all, Johnson really is that engaging of a screen presence. And honestly, I have no idea why anyone thought there was cinematic potential in Rampage, a dull and repetitive quarter-sucker that I avoided like the plague back when arcades were still a thing, and I'm compelled to find out how they stretched that thin premise into a movie!

Rampage is set to open on April 20, 2018. The human supporting cast includes Naomie Harris, Malin Åkerman, Joe Manganiello, Jake Lacy, Marley Shelton, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Here's the official synopsis:

Primatologist Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson), a man who keeps people at a distance, 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 transforms this gentle ape into a raging monster. To make matters worse, it's soon discovered there are other similarly altered alpha predators. As these newly created monsters tear across North America, destroying everything in their path, Okoye teams with a discredited genetic engineer (Naomie Harris) 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.