Actor Dwayne Johnson believes that his forthcoming release Rampage has intense action that really pushes the envelope and creates a non-stop ride of fun and chaos
Dwayne Johnson headlines the action adventure Rampage as a primatologist who keeps people at a distance but shares an unshakeable bond with George, the extraordinarily intelligent, incredibly rare albino silverback gorilla who has been in his care since he rescued the young orphan from poachers. But a rogue genetic experiment gone awry mutates this gentle ape into a raging creature of enormous size. To make matters worse, it’s soon discovered there are other similarly altered animals. As these newly created alpha predators tear across North America, destroying everything in their path, Davis teams up with discredited geneticist Kate Caldwell (Naomi Harris) to secure an antidote, fighting his way through an ever-changing battlefield, not only to halt a global catastrophe but to save the fearsome creature that was once his friend. The film, which will be shown in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, is set to hit theatres today.
How does “big meets bigger” define this movieIJ
Rampage is a big movie — big in scale, big in action and big in heart. It’s epic in every way. We have not only a gigantic and amazing albino gorilla, we also have a super-sized mutated grey wolf and a massive crocodile. We destroy a major city. So what fans can count on is big, intense action that really pushes the envelope and creates a non-stop ride of fun and chaos.
I heard that your dog, Hobbs, was an inspiration for the emotional connection your character Davis makes with George. How did that come into playIJ
One of the anchors in the movie, amid all the action and destruction, is the bond between Davis and George. I based a lot of that on the relationship I have with my little Frenchie bulldog, Hobbs, aka Bruce Wee. I’ve been an animal lover since childhood, and have had pets since I can remember, but my connection with Hobbs is special. It’ very rough and tumble, and we have a great time together — like Davis has with George.
It’s important to me to balance the film’s action with heart. With San Andreas, the heart came from my character protecting his family. In Rampage, it’s about Davis saving his best friend, George. That emotional connection makes the film more special.
This is your third collaboration with director Brad Peyton. How has your working relationship evolved over the yearsIJ
I really enjoy working with Brad. He’s a real guy from a small, working class town in Canada, and he’s all about the work and making sure it’s as good as it can be. We don’t leave until we get the shot he needs. On Rampage, our motto was, “How is this going to be differentIJ” And he always figured out a way to make a scene or moment different from anything we’ve done before.
Brad loves movies, especially big movies like Jurassic Park and the Indiana Jones films, and those inform his sensibilities. He prepares like a champion athletic coach. Everything is painstakingly detailed. The devil lies in the details and so does success.
When we visited the set of Rampage, you were inside a huge C-17 transport plane, and gigantic machines that created a hundred miles per hour winds. What was it like to film those scenesIJ
In the sequence, the C-17 is going down. To simulate that, the C-17 was put on a gimbal, which had to simulate a plane on fire and going down. Much of the time I was in a harness and attached to wires and was hanging upside down. Those scenes were very complicated and intense because they required a lot of movements from many different directions and from many different department heads. So, the days were very long but when you’re making a movie like Rampage, you better strap in and pack your lunch, because it’s going to be a day-long adventure.
Humour also plays a key role in the film. Why was that importantIJ
Humour is a critical element in Rampage. The Rampage video game had a very simple storyline: three monsters destroy a city. But at the same time, the monsters would do things that would make the gamers laugh. For example, somebody would be taking a shower, and a monster would reach in the building, pull the naked victim out of the shower and eat him or her. We don’t have “naked eating” in Rampage, because that would be a whole different movie that one day we may make, but not today. We do have fun moments where the audience can take a moment to breathe and laugh. It’s important to bring the audiences along on an epic, action-packed journey but sometimes you also have to let them have some fun. There’s that old saying, and it’s very true, that today’s headlines are going to be tomorrow’s punchlines. There’s a lot of destruction of all kinds of things going on out there but it’s still important to find just a little bit of humour in the crazy stuff that life hands us.