Rampage 2 - La vengeance d'un sniper

I know what you're thinking. "Uwe Boll? Really?" And yeah, really. We all know Uwe Boll is king of crappy films when it comes to movies. and yet, somehow, he keeps being able to make them. How? Why? Because even a broken clock can be right two times a day. And after making so many mistakes, he finally got it. in 2009, he partnered up with two of my favorite Canadian actors, Brendan Fletcher and Katharine Isabelle, for a film most found so beyond politically incorrect. But it worked. It had all the right elements and was one hell of a film. Today, right now, a sequel has happened.

After co-producing the first film, a project he believed in, this time around Brendan sat down with Uwe and pitched idea for a follow-up. If there is a way to do a continuation, what is the most true way to do it? The answer is Capital Punishment. Not only is is a well done written, acted, and directed film on it's own terms. But it's exactly what a sequel should be. Enough call backs to the original (and in very creative ways, not just "Here's your flashback!") and yet it still stands on it's own feet, and hits you with such dangerous, unpredictable plot points.

You think a film called "Rampage" condones violence, when it doesn't. No more than films like "The Purge" tell it's audience "this crime is for a good cause." When the point the character himself makes in the film is that he's doing what he does, simply because he can, because he's allowed to. And if it's not him that does it, it will be someone else. And it's scary how true that is, about society and our government and everything. The world is a corrupt place to live in, and this character's statements about social commentary may not make his violence acceptable, but, dare I say, it makes it pretty scarily understandable? We've seen real guys like this character, and we're going to see more. It's the way the world works, sadly. There will always be violence, and movies, television (FICTION) music or video games (ENTERTAINMENT) are never going to be what causes it. Whether it exists or not, the government, people feeling screwed over by this country especially, always will continue to happen.

As much as people speak out about being against violence and crime or "mean people," they still make news and are watched by millions. It's our morbid curiosities on the matter. We don't wish harm or violence to occur, but when it does? Yeah, we'll take a peek. How many people watched the beheading video that was leaked back in 2001? More recently, how many of you watched Tony Stewart kill that racer? We shouldn't watch it, we shouldn't even want to... But we still do. And to me that's what Rampage is commentary about. About a guy who has no shame or guilt in admitting that curiosity, or confronting his lust. He does what he wants to do, because it's what people want him to do. They don't want to be involved, sure enough, but at the end of the day, his story will be the one they're watching on TV. And we're the ones watching a fictionalized movie based on such an idea.

Don't think of it as "an Uwe Boll film." It'd be like if Tommy Wiseau suddenly came out with another movie that by all means was actually good, but due to The Room's reputation, people would go in expecting it to be horrible. I hate Uwe Boll's work, okay? I couldn't even sit through Bloodrayne or House of the dead. But this film is so far away from that. Watch it. Watch both. You know you want to.

The first Rampage was a shocker for most people because of its crude violence, as we rarely see these days and was a wind of fresh air for those of us who are tired of a movie industry that is too afraid of doing anything remotely controversial.

Rampage 2 succeeds because it doesn't take the easy route, which will be just to replicate all we already saw in the first movie. Here,we have less killings, but in exchange of that, we are taken into a ride where the main character explain why he thinks that this society is rotten to the core and must be cleansed. Bill essentially deems every political party and corporation as responsible for the injustice in the world. Topics as censorship, corruption, religion and invasion of privacy are constantly brought up by the main character as prime examples of how decadent the society is in his eyes.

Regarding the action scenes, they are more or less on the same level that we saw on the original, nobody should expect anything new or ground breaking on this department, but hey, why fix what's not broken is just more of the same but the death toll in this movie is not even close to the one on the first one, mainly because in this movie take place inside a T.V station and is a hostages situation, not a killing spree out in the open.

If you are interested on the character's motivations for his extreme actions, peppered with some good shooting segments, I think you will enjoy this movie, but if you expect a carnage just as big or bigger than the one on Rampage 1, you better start looking for another movie to quench your thirst of blood.

First, I have to admit that this movie kind of excited me when I first heard of it. I thoroughly enjoyed the first film, and if you like "Assault on Wall Street" you'll enjoy this one even more. I liken it to "Fight Club", but just a lesser budget version. There's narration and clips which I feel add to the movie.

Sometimes the film contradicts itself. The star of the film uses an iPhone and guns which he says are part of the problem, (among other things). That said, the message he's conveying isn't all that insane, and it really mimics a lot of the social attitude in the United States today. The message cannot be missed in this movie.

It also has it's usual action and carnage which is exciting. I firmly believe Uwe Boll has learned from past mistakes. It's pretty refreshing to see a director who isn't cranking out the next crappy "Transformers" movie, and isn't afraid to mix things up a bit. This film shows that he's found his footing and is making decent movies. I sincerely hoping Uwe Boll makes a third film. It for sure merits one.

Another decent little flick to arm the Boll canon Rampage: Capital Punishment sees the return of the disenfranchised and very angry Bill Williamson. Bill created a bulletproof suit of armor, then went on a shooting spree, ultimately killing a lot of people. After coming out of hiding and creating another bulletproof suit, Bill takes over a TV studio and using the employees as hostages, orders them to play a video he prepared earlier. Bill Williamson's message is simple. "Kill the rich."

There were a couple of scenes that were powerfully written and worth mentioning here. The first involves a couple of bums Bill occasionally comes across, and the second arrives right at the end, and involves a short exchange Bill has with a little girl. Once you see the scenes you'll know what I mean, but as I don't want to give anything away, I'll say no more.

This, in my humble opinion, is an excellent and entertaining movie. The storyline is indeed strong, if not a little perverted. The acting and the action are wholly believable and realistic. If you are a fan of American Foreign Policy (and who is ) this movie is not for you. Nor is this presentation for you is you are of the Republican persuasion ! For most non-American viewers the the theme will only serve SOME to highlight the obvious differences between good and evil, something most Americans fail to recognize.

Mr. Boll's first Rampage was a pointless rage against humanity. He spent our precious minutes throwing some swill our way about how humanity was expanding past the point of sustainability, and that the only solution was to kill some people off. And that was the whole of it. Kill people. No justifications and no reason for them. Just kill lots of people.

While I disagreed with the premise, the plot had a simple purity and made for a pretty viciously entertaining movie.

When I heard about a sequel, my first thought was, "Oh please don't ruin it by trying to develop this madman." Unfortunately, Mr. Boll has done just that by opening his big mouth.

Mr. Boll apparently has the social and political comprehension of a child, and he displays his ignorance proudly in this movie, which can best be described as a simple tantrum.

I think he might believe that this second movie expounds upon the "fine points" of the first film, but in reality all it does is drown them in paranoia rhetoric that contradicts itself even as it spews from the mouth of the main actor. Mr. Boll attempts to bury us in just about every politically motivated, paranoid conspiratorial bit of garbage he can dig up from any sort of anarchistic whacko out there.

Far from being convincing, it made me roll my eyes. Oh good grief. I've heard all this ridiculous ranting before, and from the mouths of better men. His ranting contributes very little to the plot of the film, and instead confuses the hell out of the viewer. I pity anyone who listens to this garbage and accepts it on it's face value.

WHAT POINT EXACTLY is Mr. Boll trying to make with this.. art? That democracy is dead and we'll all be better off if we behave like the anti-hero? Shooting people just for fun? Mr. Boll wants us to kill the rich? Sure. As long as Mr. Boll knows that he falls into that proper category. President Bush is evil? Heard this before a million times while he was in office. I'm hearing it more and more now that he's out of office, with the current administration trying to blame the previous president for everything it can't sort out for itself. The U.S. has NO GUN CONTROL?? Mr. Boll, are you completely oblivious?

The protagonist is asked a few times by other actors what solutions he suggests. His answer is repeatedly something along the lines of (I'll paraphrase), "Hey! Don't look at me! I just shoot people." Rather than being interesting, it comes off as merely offensive.

What it comes down to is that Mr. Boll tried to make a "point" with this film, which was a huge mistake. It's convoluted and redundant. The main character's motives, which were so clear and sinister in the first film, have suddenly become a pointless splatter of insipid demagoguery. He should have just stuck with killing people for fun.

It would have made more sense.

I'm still rating the movie a "6" because it was well made, and I'm not so petty that I give poor scores to well made films just because I hate the politics of the writer.