April 25, 2018 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
FILM REVIEW: Mutant Monsters Decimate
the Windy City in ‘Rampage’
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
information
is powerful
H
ey, sci-fi fans, did
you fi nd it hard to
stomach the sight
of a human mating
with another species in
“The Shape of Water,”
too? If so, have I got a
movie that’ll wash the
bad taste right out of
your mouth.
Call me shallow, but
I much prefer this
old-fashioned monster
fl ick. Loosely based on
the video game of the
same name, “Rampage”
is reminiscent of campy
Japanese classics like
“Godzilla” (1954), “King
Kong vs. Godzilla” (1962)
and “Mothra vs. Godzil-
la” (1964).
But instead of decimat-
ing Tokyo, the gargantu-
an creatures here have
“
Dwayne Johnson and Naomie Harris in ‘Rampage’
The anthropomorphic
primate actually has a
name, George (Jason Li-
For all the visually-captivat-
ing action sequences, what
I enjoyed most about ‘Ram-
page’ was the comic relief
their sights set on the
Windy City. Another sig-
nifi cant diff erence is that
“Rampage” is a big-bud-
get spectacular that re-
lies heavily on CGI and
state-of-the-art special
eff ects.
Otherwise, you know
the drill. Some ordinary
animals morph into
man-eating beasts in the
wake of a scientifi c ex-
periment gone terribly
wrong. In this case, we
have a wolf, a crocodile
and an albino gorilla mu-
tating into predators.
les). That’s because he
was raised in captivity
by Davis Okoye (Dwayne
Johnson), an ape-whis-
perer stationed in Rwan-
da where he heads an
anti-poaching unit dedi-
cated to the preservation
of endangered species.
However, he makes
a beeline to Chicago as
soon as he receives word
that the enormous ani-
mals have begun wreak-
ing havoc. There, he joins
forces with Dr. Kate Cald-
well (Naomie Harris), a
disgraced geneticist in
need of redemption with
access to an antidote.
But before the cure can
be administered, brace
yourself for generous
helpings of horror fare,
ranging from the scaling
of skyscrapers, to mass
hysteria in mob scenes,
to my favorite, helicop-
ters swallowed whole.
Rampage marks the
third time director Brad
Peyton has collaborated
with Dwayne Johnson
following the equal-
ly-bombastic “Journey 2”
(2012) and “San Andreas”
(2015). The capable sup-
porting cast includes
Naomie Harris, Jeff rey
Dean Morgan, Malin Ak-
erman and Joe Mangani-
ello.
For all the visually-cap-
tivating action sequenc-
es, what I enjoyed most
about “Rampage” was
the comic relief coming
courtesy of the hero, and
invariably in the middle
of major mayhem, as if
to remind everybody
that we’re just watching
a movie. Aft er a sightsee-
ing boat fi lled with tour-
ists fl ips over, Davis says,
“Well, that sucks.” Then,
when an iconic building
is fl attened, it’s, “I need
a drink.” And as a men-
acing creature unexpect-
edly takes fl ight, he mat-
ter-of-factly moans, “Of
course, the wolf fl ies.”
Not only breathtaking
stunts but perfect come-
dic timing from a beefy
action star at the top of
his game!
Excellent
Rated PG-13 for violence,
mass destruction, brief
profanity and obscene
gestures
To see the trailer, visit
TheSkanner.com.
Bill Cosby’s Lawyers Get Slammed 100 Years
cont’d from pg 6
By Advocates for Women
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The sexu-
al assault case against Bill Cosby went
to the jury Wednesday as his lawyers
came under heavy criticism for what
some called a blatant attempt to “vic-
tim-shame” the parade of women who
have leveled accusations against the
80-year-old comedian.
In the fi rst big celebrity trial of the
#MeToo era, the panel of seven men and
fi ve women began weighing charges
that Cosby drugged and molested a
woman at his suburban Philadelphia
home 14 years ago.
He says his encounter with former
Temple University women’s basketball
executive Andrea Constand was con-
sensual.
Trying to keep him out of prison,
Cosby’s lawyers launched a withering
attack on Constand and fi ve other wom-
en who told the jury that the former TV
star had drugged and assaulted them,
too.
Defense attorney Kathleen Bliss chas-
tised Constand for “cavorting around
with a married man old enough to be
her grandfather.” She derided the other
women as home-wreckers and sug-
gested they made up their stories in
a bid for money and fame.
She questioned the “personal mo-
rality” of one accuser and called
another, model Janice Dickinson, a
“failed starlet” and “aged-out mod-
el” who “sounds as though she slept
with every man on the planet.”
And she slammed the #MeToo
movement itself, calling Cosby its
victim and likening it to a witch hunt
or a lynching.
Critics said the defense team went
too far.
“They’re playing on the same old
myths that have been protecting per-
petrators for centuries,” said Kris-
ten Houser of the National Sexual
Violence Resource Center. She said
the defense’s closing argument was
fi lled with “rampant and ingrained”
misconceptions about sexual assault
and victim behavior.
“It was not only an attack on these
six accusers,” Houser said, “it was a
verbal slap to survivors all across
this country.”
of dollars due 300,000
members from many
tribes for the lease of as-
sorted land and mineral
rights.
Exhibiting an unwav-
ering
determination,
Elouise did ultimately
prevail aft er a three-de-
cade battle with the De-
partment of the Interior.
That selfl ess, indefatiga-
ble eff ort is at the heart
100 Years: One Woman’s
Fight for Justice.
The eye-opening docu-
mentary was directed by
Melinda Janko, who skill-
fully chronicled the land-
mark legal case in rather
riveting fashion. Overall,
a very moving tribute
to an intrepid crusader
who not only spoke truth
to power but miraculous-
ly emerged victorious.
Excellent
Unrated
NEWS