New ‘Rampage’ Trailer Shows How Ridiculous the Film is Going to Be (VIDEO)

Back in 2015, The Rock Johnson did a movie called San Andreas that is one of the most overwrought, humorless disaster movies ever made. It took itself entirely too seriously, thus removing any of the vicarious thrills people get from seeing major cities being destroyed. Now The Rock Johnson is working with that same director on Rampage—based on the video game where a giant gorilla, werewolf, and lizard destroy buildings in a major metropolitan area—and my biggest concern is that it's going to take that conceit seriously and try to deliver another dour, self-serious disaster movie.

However, this new trailer features The Rock Johnson talking about how funny and fun the film is going to be while intercutting with scenes from the movie that still look a little tone deaf. There's no way to ground giant monsters attacking a city in any sort of reality. It's a terrible idea, but if nothing else, there's at least a sense in this trailer that it's not going to be as dull as San Andreas. It's buried in there, somewhere, under all that product placement—Dave & Buster's, I'm looking at you!

I'll give them credit for trying. It's clear they're letting the audience know that they're in for a lot of fun, but I don't buy it. It feels like a bit of reverse engineering. Rampage opens on April 13, though I'd recommend waiting until the following Friday to check it out, if you catch my drift ;-)