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jamesakinghorn
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An error has ocurred. Please try againThey don't have to be great movies.
Reviews
Rampage: Capital Punishment (2014)
Bodycount fail
There was a few times when watching the previous movie, Rampage1, when its similarities to an old PC game, Postal, struck me. That reference is not totally oblique, as it was a game where an unhinged central character, strikes terror into his home town by walking around shooting anyone unlucky enough to stray across his path.
Quite what his beef with the world was, I don't remember. As it turned out, it wasn't even a particularly good game but the premise is what made it sell very well - unrelenting ultra-violence against an unprepared hoard of human innocents. Achieve a high body count in a public arena: the terrorists manifesto. It is a slice of darkness for which a full subscription comes to only those who would take this position forward and cross the lines of human decency.
So Rampage 1 seemed to get that the viewer didn't need much definition behind the catalyst, we want to wickedly indulge in the immediacy of his high powered weapons and his one sided war. Oh and don't forget he has full body armour, a skilled capacity for making IEDs and not getting caught. This is voyeurism through a blood stained lens.
Therefore Rampage Capital Punishment should provide level 2, but for the viewer this film quickly turns from a ominously dark and pacey build up in the first half to a
drawn out, hostage drama. The tirade of violence slows and gives our anti hero a platform to speak his unpalatable views, which we and the hostages are forced to endure at length. If this was a computer game, it would be like a the story cutting in and not letting you click past it for 20 minutes. We don't want to indulge his views as they compromise what we view this film for; a frenzied unrelenting sprint through hell. With all the possible extreme scenarios that could have played out and for a main character that is effectively as cold and undiscriminating (although he does love his mummy, aww) as Arnold Schwarzenegger in the original Terminator, Rampage Capital Punishment falls short of expectations. 5/10
Buck Wild (2013)
A beginner level zombie movie which stumbles, doesn't run, with a goof-ball script and pot-shots of humour
Knowing nothing of BuckWild, I was left guessing in the first 10 minutes as to it being a student film or a spoof. Firstly due to the try hard accent of Jarrod Pistilli; a down town "New Yawker" hardman crossed with Tackleberry from Police Academy type, who supplements his Soprano accent by referring to everyone as 'boss'. Such was my distraction that I was continually thrown outside of the film. Suitably frustrated, I started looking up IMDb to see what the deal was.
Secondly and unfortunately not being a bullet to the head, the lingering, painful, un- comic like labouring of the main 'badass' local gang leader as he likes to be referred to but is otherwise as delightfully English as a cup of tea, could be a splendidly abstract contrast to the other small town America characters and therefore improve the films comic sensibilities. However, both inadequately portrayed characters just serve to further underpin this peripheral comedy zombie flick.
Bashing over; Joe Stevens ( Gilbert Grape etc) plays a typical booze addled aggressive hick land owner who is only slightly upset by the generous and ever compromising affections his daughter gives to any arriving fresh meat. Despite the limitations of such a backwards character, Joe's delivery offers respite and a safe house to film viewers from the continual onslaught of bad acting. Against the low production values, the film steps it up with confident editing, comic book transitions and timely cuts from graphic violence and lengthy zombie close ups, (I imagine as a result of a limited budget and to keep its humorous momentum).
The story does not need explanation as it doesn't break the "run its a zombie run" mould and can be confidently summed up as a survivor tale with guns, over\undersexed teenagers, hash brownies and the ubiquitous "car hitting something on a darkened road scene" - which to the seemingly vision impaired central characters, happens no less than 3 times in this movie.
As a B horror zombie comedy (aren't they all?) a blend of its inadequacies should charm enough to lift it out of the pile. I can say, having survived this until the end ;the goofy dialogue, semi fresh takes and comic playfulness (some unintended) eventually starts working, just. In particular, the scene with a doped up zombie giving relationship advice is rather funny. Yes, a "doped up Zombie giving relationship advice" - enough said.
See it with your pals