Gaming

New 'Rampage' Trailer Ditches Goofy Monster Game Origins

Fans of the 1980 video game Rampage should prepare for a much darker story when the action hits theaters.

The new Rampage trailer released Tuesday shows what causes all the mayhem that creates giant monsters. It’s much more sinister than the video game version of this story.

Rampage, based on the video game series of the same name, centers on Primatologist Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson). He’s not much of a people person but does have a strong bond with an albino silverback gorilla named George. When George comes into contact with some green mist, he grows bigger and stronger until he’s basically an albino King Kong. Things get even worse when giant wolf Ralph and crocodile Lizzie join the carnage. Naomie Harris also plays Dr. Kate Caldwell, a genetic engineer who teams up with Davis.

Fans of the original game will remember George, Ralph, and Lizzie were humans who change as a result of three very different accidents. An experimental vitamin, a radioactive lake, and a food additive increase their size and strength in the game. The trailer shows Claire Wyden (Malin Åkerman) taking responsibility for Project Rampage, which causes the animals to transform. There’s more nefarious intent in the film than the game’s goofy group of evil scientists.

'Rampage'

Speaking of monsters, the new trailer does provide the first look at Ralph’s wings. The first trailer includes the wolf leaping in the air to destroy a helicopter. This time around, the wolf is flying.

In the original game, players controlled the humans-turned-gigantic-monsters and beat levels by destroying everything in a succession of big cities. The series went on to add various other creatures and introduce new sci-concepts like aliens and time travel, but in each game, players controlled the monsters.

In the film, we follow Okoye, who loves George enough to fight with the other humans who try to destroy the animals, including his best friend Geroge. And who knows what the mist is capable of doing to humans who come into contact with it.

We can only hope this film ends with a giant Rock having to calm down a giant monkey.

Rampage premieres April 20, 2018.

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