I love that stupid CGI gorilla.
A genetically made pathogen from experiments done on the space station lands on earth after an experiment gone wrong destroys both the station and the escape pod retuning to earth. (This is number one on our “How to create a monster” list.) Three canisters containing the pathogen land on earth and infect three different animals causing them to mutate growing bigger and extremely aggressive. The animals, “George” a gorilla, “Ralph” a gray wolf and an American crocodile all converge on Chicago.
Our heroes: Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson) a Primatologist (wha?) and Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris), a Geneticist. Toss in Agent Harvey Russell (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and you got yourself one heck of a “Justice League”. The mission: Try to find the antidote before it’s too late.
Enter the bad guys: Energyne Corporation the owners of which are a brother and sister team. The wimpy brother Brett Wyden (Jake Lacy) and the bitchy sister Claire Wyden (Malin Akerman). The mission: Retrieve the specimens and make a boat load of money.
"Rampage" was released in 2018 and was directed by Brad Peyton. The movie is both scary and funny. The action is non-stop. The special effects are top-notch with the best darn monsters in a long time. It’s a monster movie and that’s all it’s trying to be.
Oh, and don’t forget the helicopter take down. This time by a really big gray wolf.
George was originally intended to be a regular gorilla until the filmmakers and creature designers made the decision to make him an albino gorilla due to the fact that it would allow the damage done to him to be more visible and to make him stand out and not just another "King Kong rip off".
Both George, the gorilla, and Ralph (the wolf) share their names with their video-game counter-part. The crocodile, who is called Lizzie in the game series, never has its name mentioned.