2) Rampage (2017)
San Andreas was kind of a fun mindless blockbuster, which was made worth a watch due to the magnetic energy of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and some fun action sequences from director Brad Peyton. Now, Johnson and Peyton are re-teaming to adapt Rampage, a classic game that’s all about mindlessness.
The Rampage series began with the 1986 arcade game and has since seen installments on the Gamecube, Xbox, Playstation and Wii. They’re all incredibly stupid but incredibly addicting; the player takes the role of a monster going around major cities, stomping on buildings and eating civilians.
Brad Peyton is turning that into a movie, which comes just in time for the latest renaissance of giant monster films; Godzilla is officially back on American screens, and King Kong will be rebooted next year, with Godzilla vs. King Kong scheduled for 2020.
What Rampage should offer that’s unique is the idea of several monsters teaming up, something we haven’t seen on screen in a while. To summarize, we’ve got a decent action director creating a giant monster flick in which The Rock goes around kicking ass and spouting one-liners. How could that not at least be entertaining?
Don’t expect fine art, but it certainly sounds like a guilty pleasure summer popcorn film, and one that matches the quality of the source material. That already puts it far ahead of most other video game adaptations.