Movies Mayberry Movie Club Week 1: Rampage (2009)

What's your rating for this film?

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For week #1 the club selected Rampage (2009).

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Premise: A man with a thirst for revenge builds a full body armor from Kevlar and goes on a killing spree.

Director: Uwe Boll

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Starring: Brendan Fletcher

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Trivia:
(via IMDB)

  • There was no script, just a 10 page treatment. The movie was practically improvised.​
  • The players in the bingo hall scene are not actors and their reactions are real when Brendan Fletcher takes and calls out a number.​
  • Macaulay Culkin was offered the role of Billy, but turned it down.​
  • The character's name "Evan Drince" is an anagram of "Can Never ID".​
 
Uwe Boll.

Aiyiyi... Some time ago he was voted to a list of worst directors of all time.

Now I'm anxious to see what everyone thought of this.
 
Uwe Boll.

Aiyiyi... Some time ago he was voted to a list of worst directors of all time.

Now I'm anxious to see what everyone thought of this.

Yeah, people hate all his video game inspired movies. This one's fuckin' great though. Will give a more detailed review tomorrow.
 
Do they turn into giant monsters in this movie or is this based on a different rampage?
 
Rampage (2009) is what happens when certain men in society are overlooked or passed over. You might notice I said men, because this isn't a problem with women about 99% of the time. Men though, even the most beta, seemingly weak males are capable of extreme violence, especially if they feel emasculated by society. When Evan is talking about the marginalized of society and the brainwashing that people are told to aspire to be consumers and the problems with climate change, and overpopulation, I got a real Fight Club type vibe when Brad Pitt was telling Ed Norton a similar line of thought.

"Big bank accounts, fast cars, big screen T.V.'s, liposuction, a facelift, does this help anyone? No. What is this? This is ego. We need someone who will stand for something. We need someone who believes what they say and believes in action."---Evan (Rampage 2009)

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In the end, it was Bill that was quite clear that its a mistake to believe all people are equal because, based on what happened, his worldview was that there were two kinds of people, those who take action, and those who don't. There is also an interesting dynamic between the actions he took, a rampage, and the actions his parents were pushing him to take which was to go to college, get your own place, get a better job, etc. There were a possible two timelines there, one good, and one bad that he had to choose from.

When Bill went to the Bingo hall and got a crappy sandwich he went up to the caller and grabbed the ball, which was I27. He calls it out to see if anyone has bingo but nobody does so he leaves. I couldn't help but think of Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men making people flip a coin to decide their fate. In this case it was a "bingo" and I can't help but think if someone had said bingo he would have killed everyone in that bingo hall.

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In the end, I wasn't prepared for his rampage. The way he started it by remote controlling a van into the police station and then detonating a bomb really got my attention fast that this wasn't going to be your normal walk into a mall and shoot 30 people stories. The twist at the end was excellent, I wasn't expecting him to frame his best friend Evan as the killer and frankly I didn't think he would get away with it so that in itself was a twist.

Lastly, who is the director, Uwe Boll? Well, he's a loon and he might be planning his own rampage. Listen to him concerning the funding on Rampage 3.



Beyond that, he was also a guy who used to fight film bloggers that said he sucked. He actually had a boxing match with some of them. Here is a video of how nuts this guy really is.

 
First off I really love this film. The entire trilogy is my favorite movie viewing in awhile. Maybe what's most fascinating is the internal debate over whether or not it's ok to root for the guy. He's clearly a sociopath who's up to no good. But he's the star of the show and it's a movie. From the start I didn't care for him. Slack-ass living in his parent's basement. Unappreciative and discourteous towards them. Kind of a dick to his friend. Confrontational with servers. And of course the mass shooting spree he was about to undertake. Then he blew up the police station and I was like "Yeah, I'm on board now!". So by the time he got around to framing is buddy and getting away with the cash he had my support. Is that bad?

Reviews used Falling Down as a comparison, but I'm not sure how closely related they are. In that one Michael Douglas' character just snaps. Here Bill has been meticulously planning everything. In Falling Down it's easy to identify with the character's frustration. Here Bill has things pretty good and none of us think anything that happens justifies his actions. Maybe a better comparison would be American Psycho. A despicable character murders innocent people and gets away with it. Was it ok to root for Patrick Bateman?

The bingo hall scene was great. It's low-key hilarious that nobody takes note of his presence. The calm atmosphere inside as a reprieve from the chaos and violence surrounding it. The curious line where he says "You guys don't need my help at all.". It makes me wonder how much he's motivated by the financial gain of robbing the bank, how much is a desire to lash out in murderous fashion, and how much he thinks he's doing something to change the world.

While he didn't get caught, his plan to make everyone believe Evan did it was a failure. Evan's dad on the TV shouting out that Bill Williamson did it is a little convenient? Was Bill going to keep living his life up until then, and decided to run only after having his name brought up? Would his plan have worked otherwise? Would the van and the car he drove around in be tied back to him or to Evan? Is it a better film if his plan worked flawlessly and nobody ever knew it was him? Or is it more fitting that the nation's largest mass-murderer is on the run and sending out political messages to his followers on the internet?
 
I got a real Fight Club type vibe when Brad Pitt was telling Ed Norton a similar line of thought.

Agreed. Even kinda looks like Pitt too.


In this case it was a "bingo" and I can't help but think if someone had said bingo he would have killed everyone in that bingo hall.

That hadn't occurred to me. That's as good of an explanation for him calling out the number as any.

Glad you enjoyed the flick. :)
 
That hadn't occurred to me. That's as good of an explanation for him calling out the number as any.

Glad you enjoyed the flick.

Think about it. He's going along up to that point and he's killing everyone. Nobody is getting a pass, even the girl that was hiding up by the wall of a building and he see's her and says, "scary shit, huh?" as he reloads then guns her down. Nobody is getting to live. Then he arrives at the bingo hall, an easy 100+ kills, and he calls the bingo, nobody has bingo, he leaves. I'm telling you, if someone had said bingo he would have killed everyone in there like the Hound trying to get some chicken.

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Think about it. He's going along up to that point and he's killing everyone. Nobody is getting a pass, even the girl that was hiding up by the wall of a building and he see's her and says, "scary shit, huh?" as he reloads then guns her down. Nobody is getting to live. Then he arrives at the bingo hall, an easy 100+ kills, and he calls the bingo, nobody has bingo, he leaves. I'm telling you, if someone had said bingo he would have killed everyone in there like the Hound trying to get some chicken.

tenor.gif

Could be. But he did almost show mercy in the beauty salon. The line about he shouldn't have let them see his face says to me that he wouldn't have walked back in and killed them otherwise.

He also let people in the bank live, but I figure it's because he wanted witnesses to say that he burned the (fake) money.

I like your theory though. Best I came up with was that he felt like they were all in a state of living death already, and bingo was all they had. So he wanted to see someone get bingo and watch how they react when the moment they're all waiting for happens.
 
Could be. But he did almost show mercy in the beauty salon. The line about he shouldn't have let them see his face says to me that he wouldn't have walked back in and killed them otherwise.

He also let people in the bank live, but I figure it's because he wanted witnesses to say that he burned the (fake) money.

I like your theory though. Best I came up with was that he felt like they were all in a state of living death already, and bingo was all they had. So he wanted to see someone get bingo and watch how they react when the moment they're all waiting for happens.

Oh, shit. I thought he killed the girls in the beauty parlor because right when he left one of the girl's goes, "what a dickhead", and I thought he heard her and came back and killed them. We also know it wasn't a woman thing because he killed the girl that was up against the building in the corner when he could have easily just kept walking, he stopped, told her "scary shit huh", reloaded, and shot her. On a side note, the girl at the chicken place. I thought he liked her and that's why he kept going there to eat the shitty food and he was even cordial to her after she spilled his drink by telling Evan not to get the manager to complain so I was kinda shocked he went there specifically to shoot her.

Now the coffee guy on the other hand, I knew his shit was toast when he didn't get dat foam on top just right.
 
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Oh, shit. I thought he killed the girls in the beauty parlor because right when he left one of the girl's goes, "what a dickhead", and I thought he heard her and came back and killed them. We also know it wasn't a woman thing because he killed the girl that was up against the building in the corner when he could have easily just kept walking, he stopped, told her "scary shit huh", reloaded, and shot her. On a side note, the girl at the chicken place. I thought he liked her and that's why he kept going there to eat the shitty food and he was even cordial to her after she spilled his drink by telling Even not to get the manager to complain so I was kinda shocked he went there specifically to shoot her.

Now the coffee guy on the other hand, I knew his shit was toast when he didn't get dat foam on top just right.

He definitely made the comment about the women having seen his face, so I take it at face value that's why he went back in.

The foam guy was not cut out for customer service and is no great loss to the coffee world. :D I didn't get a good look at the last cup he made. Bill said something to the effect of Jesus Christ (I think). Whatever it was it sounded like the dude still didn't add enough foam. If it were me that foam would have been an inch above the rim of the cup!

With the Chicken Den waitress I wondered if her death was part of his plan to frame Evan. Bill was the one calming things down while Evan was looking to make a scene. So maybe the idea was when Evan turns up dead for her co-workers to say that's the guy who was pissed at her the other day. Or I'm overthinking it and he shot her for spilling soda on him. But he certainly seemed to go out of his way to kill her.
 
Lemme start by saying, this flick was riveting, I couldn’t turn away. Big credit to the actors, especially the lead, for carrying out an unscripted performance and making it stick. Even the obvious Tyler Durden clone was good. It was a book I could not put down. Definitely a page turner.

That said, I think it was trying to make some larger point, or provide some thought provoking take on the psychology of modern mass murderers. To me, though, it was about just another pussy ass, whiney, millennial who can’t hack life. “Oh no, the coffee bean guy didn’t get my order right”. “Woe is me, the Chicken Den girl wasn’t competent”. “My parents dote on me but also want me to do stuff!”. Waaahhh. Pussies. The Joker with body armor.
I liked the bingo scene. “I can’t help these people” was pretty funny. And, of course, I-27 came when he left.

All-in-all, a good movie (if you aren’t utterly disturbed by wanton murder). Not something I’d rewatch, though.
 
He also let people in the bank live, but I figure it's because he wanted witnesses to say that he burned the (fake) money.

The Joker with body armor.

I don't know if you guys remember but in 1997 there was a bank robbery in L.A. and two guys wearing black body armor had a shootout with the police. I was really reminded of this during the film because of his body armor, guns, and bank robbing. Check out this clip for a reminder of how crazy that shit was.

 
I don't know if you guys remember but in 1997 there was a bank robbery in L.A. and two guys wearing black body armor had a shootout with the police. I was really reminded of this during the film because of his body armor, guns, and bank robbing. Check out this clip for a reminder of how crazy that shit was.


I do recall, vaguely. A reminder that we’ve always been nuts, we just didn’t have all the social media back then.
 
Lemme start by saying, this flick was riveting, I couldn’t turn away. Big credit to the actors, especially the lead, for carrying out an unscripted performance and making it stick. Even the obvious Tyler Durden clone was good. It was a book I could not put down. Definitely a page turner.

That said, I think it was trying to make some larger point, or provide some thought provoking take on the psychology of modern mass murderers. To me, though, it was about just another pussy ass, whiney, millennial who can’t hack life. “Oh no, the coffee bean guy didn’t get my order right”. “Woe is me, the Chicken Den girl wasn’t competent”. “My parents dote on me but also want me to do stuff!”. Waaahhh. Pussies. The Joker with body armor.
I liked the bingo scene. “I can’t help these people” was pretty funny. And, of course, I-27 came when he left.

All-in-all, a good movie (if you aren’t utterly disturbed by wanton murder). Not something I’d rewatch, though.

Agreed on the whiny millennial stuff. From the interviews I could find with Boll on the movie I couldn't really discern any larger statement. I think first and foremost he wanted to make something you wouldn't get from Hollywood. A mass shooter who gets away with it is ballsy. In fact he had to change the ending in Germany. Instead of the blurb about Bill going on the run and dropping videos two years later, they instead said he was captured by police and executed.

Also agreed that the actor really pulled it off. His presence is what carries the entire trilogy.

I'm pleased you found it riveting. To me it's a film that's gonna make a strong impression whether you love it or hate it.
 
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