Released: April 2010(Germany)
Director: Uwe Boll
Rated R
Run Time: 85 Minutes
Distributor: Phase 4 Films
Genre: Action/Thriller
Cast:
Brendan Fletcher: Bill Williamson
Shaun Sipos: Evan Drince
Matt Frewer: Mr. Williamson
Lynda Boyd: Mrs. Williamson
For most video-gamers, myself included, any video-game film directed by Uwe Boll has been regarded as train wrecks at best. House of the Dead was absolutely abysmal, as was Bloodrayne and Alone in the Dark. Most people would try and compare Uwe Boll to the legendarily awful film-maker Ed Wood. While I have certainly had my issues with Mr. Boll and his films, I don’t think that’s really a fair comparison to make. Ed Wood never even came close to making a good movie. While he had passion for the medium, he was nowhere near talented enough to actually craft something worthwhile. I would actually advise people to avoid Boll’s video-game movies(except for Postal. That one’s too bonkers to miss.), and to look at films like Attack on Darfur. While I would say that Darfur was far from a great movie, it was surprisingly decently made and brought attention to a real problem in Darfur. He also didn’t pull any punches when it came to the violence. Another one that’s really worth looking at is a little thriller called Rampage. This is not to be confused with the upcoming Dwayne Johnson film, which also happens to be based on a video-game. Irony much? No, this little thriller came out back in 2009 here in the states, and it’s been the subject of many debates on whether or not Uwe Boll is a good film-maker.
The film follows young Bill Williamson through his daily life, dealing with overbearing parents, a lousy boss and an even worse job, an irritating friend that talks too much, and visits coffee shops and fast-food joints with lousy service. With everything seeming to crumble around him, Bill has a solution: Take out his anger and frustration on the people around him. The story might seem simple on the surface, there is a surprising amount of nuance to what’s going on. This is an angry movie, for sure. Not just because Uwe Boll’s been dealing with constant criticisms over his movies, but also on how America deals with it’s gun situation. So…he let’s people have it with both barrels, literally and metaphorically. While the story does take a turn for the horrific when Bill starts shooting people, it’s pretty clever in how it manipulates the audiences feelings about what’s happening. It’s a simple story, with a simple set-up about a kid who has reached a breaking point. We’ve all been there. We’ve all had bad experiences: Bad service, friends that talk and don’t walk and parents that push too hard. There is something pretty cathartic about watching a character who has had enough of everything and decides to unleash his full fury on the world.
The acting in this film is actually pretty superb. Everybody is fantastic. From Matt Frewer to Michael Pare, every one steps up to the plate. But this is Brendan Fletcher’s show, through and through. As Bill Williamson, Fletcher gives a really low-key and nuanced performance. Even though, his character does some really terrible things, we as an audience do sympathize with the character at certain points. We understand what the character has been through and on some deep level, we wish we could unleash hell on earth. A lot of what goes into the acting also has to do with the fact that most of the acting was improvised. From what I understand, there really was no set script, so people were kind of making things up as they went along. In most movies, that wouldn’t have worked. Here, it adds a degree of realism that you don’t actually see in a lot of big-budget films. Does it always work? No, but it works enough that we don’t see the cracks in the dialogue. That was a pretty smart idea, actually. I would like to see more film-makers take the risk of not scripting dialogue and having their actors make it up as they go.
When I said that Rampage was an angry movie, I meant it. This is one violent film. It takes about thirty minutes before the bullets fly, but when they do, it’s nonstop. The violence and the effects are mostly done practically and are as realistic as possible. Most of the pyrotechnics are done in camera and a lot of the blood is done with squibs and corn syrup. For some people, nay, many people, there are sequences in this film that can be disturbing. The idea of a single mass-murderer is not unrealistic. Just look at the news over the past twenty years. On a certain level, I could never imagine a film like this getting made today. A decade ago? That’s pushing it, but Uwe Boll was not one to shy away from controversy, and I’m glad he didn’t. This is a visceral and bloody film that has a certain degree of realism thrown in for good measure. Is it all realistic? Of course not, this film is fantasy, even though it deals with a subject matter that is all too real for a lot of us.
With all that in mind, the film does have its faults. That lack of scripting that I mentioned? There are moments throughout the film where a little bit of scripting could have helped. Also, Bill’s friend Evan is annoying as fuck. There are also some elements that don’t seem to fit. For one, you would have expected Evan’s dad to be a little bit more suspicious about the mysterious packages that he’s been receiving for Bill, that’s a bit of a plot-hole right there. Not only that, where was the S.W.A.T team and the FBI during all this? You would have figured that when the bodies pile up, somebody would have alerted the feds to something like this. Besides, any sniper worth his salt would have been able to put a bullet into Bill’s eye-piece. There’s also a CGI shot that is really, really bad. There’s also some pretty heavy shaky-cam going on here, but nothing too terrible.
Overall, I have to say that I am impressed. Uwe Boll crafted a movie that is not only compelling, but also thrilling and surprisingly smart at the same time. I’m not going to lie, I have a particular fascination with Uwe Boll’s films. Yeah, a lot of his stuff isn’t particularly good. But the stuff that he writes himself are actually pretty decent. Is Rampage going to be for everybody? No. The subject matter is going to hit really close to home for a good number of people who have been affected by some of these events. This is clearly a movie in which Uwe Boll really vents. When you’ve been criticized for a good chunk of your career, I can absolutely see why he would make a movie like this. It’s definitely garnered some attention and it’s gotten people talking. But it’s also got people saying that’s a pretty decent film. For an Uwe Boll film, that is a hell of an achievement. Bravo, good sir. Bravo.
My Final Recommendation: 8.5/10