Rampage (2009)

If it wasn't for IMDb, I wouldn't have heard, or seen this movie in the first place.

Uwe Boll has already made a name for himself as the "Ed Wood Of The New Millennium". I agree with that statement, for I had to endure "House Of The Dead", "Alone In The Dark", "Bloodrayne", even being a fan of Jason Statham won't save you from "In The Name Of The King". Those were just jaw-dropping, shockingly awful films. And the more famous stars Uwe gets, the more crappier his movie becomes. Then came along this gem.

At which point I urge you to forget, not forgive, everything you know about Uwe Boll and watch this film with an open mind. This disturbing thriller packed with social commentary is not only Uwe Boll's best film, but also one of the best films of the year. I can't believe that I'm saying "Uwe Boll" and "best of the year" in the same sentence. But hear me out before you start flaming.

First, we have a simple story. Just a young kid who gets frustrated and decides to mow down half of his town. "Falling Down", perhaps? Not exactly. For we get a very interesting main character who spites the condition of the world today and decides to clean up the planet, one small step at a time, beginning with massacring the town where he lives. This character, Bill, is played to perfection by relatively fresh Canadian face Brendan Fletcher, whom deserved an Oscar nomination in my opinion. However, it sadly didn't and wouldn't happen since Uwe Boll's name and reputation destroyed any chances of this film getting an Oscar nomination.

While Fletcher acts his role with ease and focus, Boll directs the film, especially the action sequences, with his usual frenetic directing style seen in his previous movies. Back then those were just merely miserable attempts to pull the audience into the action. Now it works with brutal and unflinching force. The cinematography and music have also improved considering these are some of the same crew that worked with Boll in some of his debacles, and the production design is somewhat slick, a feat if you take the film's low budget into account.

Yes the film has it's flaws - , some repetitive editing, some dodgy and obvious CGI in one scene and the actress playing Bill's mom giving a mediocre performance, but the film has a message to tell us and with that purpose alone Boll has succeeded brilliantly. It's as if Boll was reflecting upon gamers' affection towards video games and violent ones to boot. Remember video game fans are the ones who especially hate Boll's guts. Boll shoots the violent scenes where people, mostly innocents get shot down mercilessly, something commonly seen in games like "GTA", "Hitman" and "Call of Duty". I couldn't play "Hitman" for two weeks after watching this film, for it made me think whether we are like Bill, or Bill is like us. Boll also puts in some neat drifts of social commentary within the movie, making us think about those other real-life massacres.

So in short, well done, Boll. I'm amazed that he can pull off a magic trick after so much crap from him... I won't forgive him yet for those four video game atrocities of films but it's interesting to see where he goes to from here... that "Darfur" movie looks intriguing...

Goodness... I'm awaiting Uwe Boll's next movie... isn't that insane?

Overall value: 74/1

Fmovies: I would have to say first off, I'm not a Uwe Boll fan of any kind, the only watchable film of his was Tunnel Rats. But I have to say this movie actually surprised the hell out of me. Some of the acting was a little bit sub-par but as for Brendan Fletcher, he's got some acting chops. Only thing I saw him in before was Jason Vs Freddy but he carried the lead very well in this (loved the bingo hall scene). Second thing is I really didn't think the violence was that over the top. All in all if you hate Uwe Boll films, you might actually like this one. As far as character development and plot, maybe not the best but it was worth watching. Bottom line if it was at a movie theater where I live I would have paid the ten bucks to go see it.

In my lifetime I have only ever walked out of one film, and that was House of the Dead. I wouldn't have walked out of Rampage if the theater was on fire. This film will be misunderstood, torn apart by entire organizations, and will undoubtedly infuriate most who ever get the chance to see it. Think what you may about Dr. Uwe Boll, but this film is right and pure in the way that only Independent cinema can be; and Douglas' Falling Down never could be. This film will never get wide distribution because the level of violence and lack of easy answers will be too much for most people. I haven't bought a DVD in months and I've got this one pre- ordered for sure. Shockingly amazing from a man most people thought was only capable of churning out crap (and usually does).

Rampage fmovies. Uwe Boll is compared to Ed Wood and I think it is justified, he has a lot of very annoying habits as a director, his aesthetic sense and/or his skills at cutting movies are off.

And I think these bad habits are still present in "Rampage" (for example, in my opinion the movie would look better and have more tension without all the foreshadowing in the beginning).

However Boll managed to minimize his annoying directorial habits to an acceptable level and create a good movie with its own style. The movie shocks with its nihilistic sensibility and I think it is a biggest sign of the theme being treated in a non-stereotypical way.

This movie has a very non-pretentious style, but actually I think it treats the subject matter of mass murder more non-stereotypically then a more "highbrow" movie like "Elephant".

The actors are good, especially Brendan Fletcher who plays the everyman psycho protagonists, reminds me of young Christian Slater.

I recommend this movie and will check out other higher-rated Boll movies,

The ratings would be much higher, if this movie had another directors name on it. But since it's a Boll-Movie, it can't be good, right? Rampage is basically a movie about a guy on a killing spree, but Boll really managed to add depth to it. Believe it or not: this is a pretty clever flick. There is no black and white, no good or bad. Society is just f****d up in general and everybody seems to deal with that differently.

So it's not a nihilistic vision of our society. It's not dragging you down like a depressing Larry Clark- or Lars Von Trier-flick. It's not torture porn and it's not pseudo-artsy. It's simply a good movie, with great actors and a surprising twist in the end.

The editing and the cinematography were a bit wonky, though.

This movie was rather interesting and surprisingly so. I had expected a mediocre movie at best, so I was pleasantly surprised.

What made this movie have a big impact, is the fact that things similar to the events in the story actually do happen from time to time in our messed up society. Just take the school shootings from USA or Finland for example. Uwe Boll played his cards well in this movie, and delivered somewhat of a social and political heavy set movie here.

The acting was sparse, and wasn't really needed in a movie of this type. But the lead role played by Brendan Fletcher was remarkable. He put on a stunning performance with his psycho role.

Now, the only thing that kind of irritated me in this movie was the hand-held camera stuff. That was horrible. Had Uwe Boll decided to go with a steady cam instead, the movie would have been just that much more cool. Sure, hand-held cams are nice as well, but it was just a tad too much in this movie. Every single shot was shaking back and forth, often to a degree where you started to pull your hair and scream "keep it still, for the love of Hollywood gods!" But looking past the camera issue, then this movie rocked phenomenally.

This is most definitely a movie to check out. It is packed with action and at the same time taking on the gloves to punch our sick society in the face.