iTunes Exclusive Episode Rampage

If you're hearing the sound of my voice, it means the following conditions have been met. At least once in your life, you have checked out the Clubhouse Podcast live every Sunday night, seven Eastern, four Pacific, your one-stop shop for all things pop culture. It also means you check out our little show on your favorite podcast app because it's time for another Itoons exclusive number 370 what that sink in kids welcome my name is Rob I am the executive producer of the Clubhouse Podcast and the subject we call it the source material for today's episode holds a very special place in my heart but it's not a story that I wanted to go to because it would take too long.

Sitting across from me on the desk is my co-host and a man who is enjoying the fruits of my musical labor as he sits on my beautiful bar stool that is guitar branded he is Chad welcome sir. I am a fan. Oh why check your switch there sir.

There we go. Oh so you're enjoying that. Oh I'm a fan.

Both of the brand name and of the comfort. Well yeah for where you are it sits well for me I need to get a taller one for the band stuff. But I'll be happy to take it off your hands.

You can leave it in the studio if it's too late. Next to him is the official fact checker of this show and a man who smashes in his spare time but not the way the kids with the clothes and the hair say it. You may know him is fun dongle but his mom and even Don Ford I'm going to call him Don Ford.

What's up sir. Back him on tan a smash man drunk as a skunk. Well smash you can be smashed.

Okay that's not just Montana. I recognize that terminology. Plus I like smashing pumpkins too they're a good band.

With the Eric Cartman of rock music. Yes that just happened. That's the first time you've heard me make that reference.

No but one will go. Never not funny though. Never not fun.

But we never know who's not listening maybe they've never heard it. That's true it's every somewhere somebody right now there's a man listening to a podcast. What's the ninth inside joke in the first 30 seconds of this podcast.

We're not even out of the garage. Whatever we do one of these things it is to review something this is no different. For the second time in less than a month we have to talk about a movie based on a video game and this time it's a rampage.

Sort of that's hoping. Yes sir. We got thank J.T.

Nurban 11son for the invite. Thank you so much guys we appreciate you guys letting us see movies a little bit early so that we can talk to the Empire about them and help them make the best decisions possible for their entertainment dollar. Directed by Brad Payton this is based on the video game from the early slash mid 80s and the reboot that came about 10 years later.

Yes but it kind of remembered this game I do I love this game very very much. It's a hard one to forget. Well and when we first thought that they were doing a film version of this I was kind of like there's no story to the game.

The first word that came out of your mouth was how yeah you basically you picked yourself you were either a lizard or a wolf or a large gorilla and you just climbed on buildings and destroyed them and ate people and tried to get rid of the army soldiers by knocking them out. That's the whole game and that's the building when they set the TNT so it didn't take you down with. And you had to make sure you didn't grab the neon sign or electrocuted you or anything toxic or whatever.

But in this particular case this is about a company that does genetic experiments and we did give the title didn't we? I did because I'm done new to it's a holler at our friends from 11son. So you have Davis Akoye played by the great doing Johnson.

The rock. Who carries this $25,000 gym with him to every set he goes to now. He's not afraid to show it on Instagram.

He basically works with a gorilla and this gorilla while out wandering around one night finds this canister that has been that has fallen to earth from this corporation that does these genetic experiments gets a gas put on him and all of a sudden he starts growing at an exponential rate which then enrages him as well. So Davis works with Dr. Kate Caldwell who's kind of an off she's kind of cast off from this company to try to get to the bottom of this where they run you know as they run into Claire and Brett Wyden played by Jake Lacey and mainland Acrimon as well as their agent Harvey Russell played by the great Jeffrey Dean Morgan and as we referenced earlier in this particular episode it's not just the gorilla there is also the other two there is a wolf but there is also this this one's not a lizard it's a crocodile in a way yeah crocodile so and so basically chaos they do actually reference the wolf by name the same name he had in the game right I don't remember if they called angle yourself of them like a little better place okay how's this much much better all right uh when they were in the war room they said the internet geeks have taken a call on him Ralph and I'm like there it is yeah but I don't remember the next thing mentioning Lizzy by name but I don't believe they yeah there was someone in the in the trivia about that I've looked at on the mdb all right so you guys saw this I did not I was unavailable the evening of the screening of the screening so I am not granted I have read both of your reviews currently located at www.theclubhousepodcast.com that's our website so I know what you're about to say I'm gonna hold off on chat okay because as you like to say Don yeah what don't you have the Greek Craig very much so so my expectation going into this is that you and Chad would have completely different views on this film because of that alone as we've talked about in another film that we saw recently that was based on a book that I read and had very high hopes for and maybe didn't quite live up to those expectations let's start with you Don yeah were you a fan of this game back in the day or were you a casual fan or did you really really like casual I like the donkey Kong in the miss pack man be out back back in the day but I remember the game a little bit made play once or twice but yeah but leave it at that okay so what did you think of this film overall um if you go to my written review again at www.theclubhousepodcast.com eventually that's our website I put on there I did we just get that that website have we not had that for seven years they can have a written down in your jacket um I've been scared of these video game movies lately you look in the last 20 years in the last 20 years consistently 20 years not really lately but compared to the Hollywood of a hundred years well consistently video game based films had usually pretty weak yeah you look at doom you look at Mortal Kombat 2 and all that it scared me and I thought you know very much enjoyed the first Mortal Kombat yeah but some of these have been real super Mario Brothers anyone give me a break where it all began more or less but it kind of worried me but then I walked went to this film thinking my expectations might be real low okay it's the rock I like the rock and the thing I noticed about his character it's that same style of character and mannerisms in elements of the person that's kind of on and Sam dress and what and Dwayne has worked with this directly twice before yeah once with San Andreas the other being journey to the mysterious just different jobs that they do but it's that same where he wants to help society and all that stuff and he cannot he has a edge up on something because he has knowledge of what's going on so I saw a bit lost some similarities in this but I thought it was just gonna be CGI mindless plot boom boom boom it surprised me this thing was fun really yeah it runs an hour 47 so it's not the length of your normal superhero type film and it goes yeah the acting you're not getting Oscar noms next year I mean but it's an action film but Morgan Morgan does good I have to give shout to Morgan I liked his mannerism as like Southern cowboy gentleman kind of thing but Jeffrey Dean Morgan as you know who you know is lately as Negan from the walking dead but he's also worked with mainland acrimon before as they were both in watchmen together of course Harris how you doing but no me Harris Johnson and Harris do good as the as a lead role they compliment each other very well they do have good job George was the name of the girl yes but they're CGI I just want to know does George rock bottom one of the other monsters in a way I think you have seen it I mean okay all right all right yeah there's a you could kind of say that okay but keep as he jumped on top of a building and just lift his nose in the air to smell the electricity he doesn't do that but the comedy there's a lot good comedy in this and you I like the relationship he had with George the well yeah so from the trailers I mean I it looks really interesting the way they interact with each other but George is his own character and I really enjoyed that too but the CGI was incredible now one thing we did not see this in 3d but this is one that films us tone Chad when we're leaving and you said this in your review I think it will be WWW dot the clubhouse podcast dot com that's our website if there's a 3d option I would be interested you know what I think about you're talking I'm gonna look and see if it is because I don't know I would assume so but I haven't I don't know now this film is leave your brain at the door of course absolutely it's an action film it's a summer but the CGI's corn film the CGI is incredible but the plot can be interested it wasn't just my last action there was a kind of reason for the action you know why you find out why these three animals are going haywire and trying to destroy Chicago at all of cost and everything um of course the suspension display but when you expect at this film but with that plot and how they twisted it and everything and how George is as an animal who's his own character I will tell you it is available in both iMAX and Dolby cinema and 3d so we got an iMAX so okay always had iMAX there you go I think this would really be enhanced in 3d's in some ways it doesn't look like the iMAX is available in 3d but you can get it in just the real d3d or Dolby cinema I have fun with it I was surprised even though it's a mainlet brainless leave your brain at the door nicely for you as well yeah pocket me interested not too complicated of if this person does this and that uncle of that does it hits a butcher and he hides the speaker formula from the maid you know that kind of thing there's none of that it's simple easy to find so so you're co-signing on this so far before we get yeah yeah without the Greek crab it was fun all right sir for those of you that may be tuning in for the first time first of all welcome and I want to say one thing real quick they please do they gave one scene or a couple scenes where they gave homage to the video game good big time yeah I'll leave it at that chat and I tend to review things from a different standpoint than Don does Don Don is what we refer to as our every man and that is not an insult in any way shape or form but I think when Don reviews films it's a very nice balance because you and I are not only students of films but we are all things geek so we're going to look at films like this from different lenses than per taps Don would have you for the for the standpoint of you you know more about video games than I do I fell off in the mid 90s but you kind of kept up thoughts on rampage as it pertains to staying true to the source material well you kind of can't yeah I will I will I will start right off the top I say it's it's kind of like no it's kind of like coming this summer Mary had a little lamb the film there's not much you can do there candy lads we're gonna write your teeth well I know Adam Sandler was attached to that for a man and shoots and ladders yes so what you like to go down a ladder with me the the fact that that they deviate from the fact that these creatures don't start out as humans they start out as what they all which in the video game once you your quarter runs out you turn back to your human uh-huh there's it's it's not the same lab it's not scum labs or anything like that um and I think that's a good thing uh I think if they had stayed too true to the source material I don't think it would have carried the emotional as I can't believe I'm saying this carried the emotional weight that it did especially when it comes to the rocks character in George uh because he picked up George when he was just a wee little gorilla and the man jealous in this too yes he is uh as is the windy pepper corn which I don't remember seeing her in the movie but she's in the end uh the end of uh in as as this is recorded we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of the sandlot thank you very much and she plays a doctor but I was like I don't remember seeing her but there it is Dr.

Terry Atkins as a Marley Shelton uh-huh greatness of windy pepper corn uh the uh the thing just moves like it's like it's a so there's no there's no molasses element no no there there is no long exposition there is no deep conversation to be had per se your your eyebrows just went up the windy pepper corn are also currently featured in the NBC series rise oh real life is very much enjoying okay uh but as far as it it gives you all the the I really can't say subtle nuances because there is nothing subtle about this film I don't know that Dwayne's ever done anything that the subtle nuance could be attached no no he is not low key and I don't mean the guy from the Avengers films uh worthy rest there that buys a new zone hype uh but but he's he's he's very very likable he he doesn't really slide into that over the top rock type performance he's very grounded okay uh given the source material that seems kind of a complicated task but he's very very grounded he's nothing like his character in Jumanji whereas in Jumanji he's more playing in all for laughs right whereas this he's a very serious guy who's had a very rough past and he's he's you could tell he's he's he's carrying scars with him that keeps him in arm's length because he by his own admission has a better relationship as a primatologist a better relationship with animals and he does what I believe he says that in the trailer yes I'm mistaken and the boy Don I don't know if you picked up on this or if you read about it but that Ford Bronco he drives around in this thing yes it is a prototype that never went to production it's like a 10 or 12-year-old oh I noticed that is a monster I was like boy if that thing ever hit the market it would sell like crazy uh but he that should have been his own that's that's a that's a pretty wicked Ford Bronco uh but it's very enjoyable uh even if you're not a fan or know nothing about the game it is a very typical summer blockbuster park porn film it's it's it's a lot of fun uh I it's I know it's really it's a 2004 Ford Bronco right um prototype I know it's easy to say leave your brain at the door but you really don't have to completely check out you know that there there are some things are like oh really okay and that you know it's it's got some science-based you know stuff in it that is I'm I'm sure at least partially factual uh but it gave me everything that I was you know more than I was expecting so my expectation level is very low can I use the words pleasantly surprised very much so we did apply a big time look at that a video game film that you actually enjoyed yeah oh that when I read your review I was like did not see that coming neither did I I walked out they're going dude I mean this so it hits all the notes it really does and the first scene got me really going how they did how they how they introduced the element of what makes them what they are okay and how the canisters get spread out throughout the earth it was real I really like that first scene it I don't want to be in spoiler free but how the Wendy Peferkorns and they do a little plane around in your old backyard what part should go the wolf oh yeah yeah the Wyoming yeah cast for Wyoming but guarantee that was not cast no I'm sure probably I do I do love to see where he crashes through the building and and doing just goes of course the wall flies yeah well when Lizzie shows up well that sucks yeah I was just saying to myself where's our giant crack it up yeah you I guarantee you get a kick at it all right fair enough anything you guys want to discuss where we get to the final analysis I know that uh there is a a game based on this version of rampage at Dave and busters right now oh really and they do some product placement like he when George is rampaging through Chicago there's just happens to be a day with busters right there in the corner he cracks the signs why wouldn't there so how old do you think this is good for six and above ten and above that takes some question well I we again trying to stay as spoiler free as possible George speaks primarily in sign language right with a trailer well there's a couple of things in sign language you wouldn't want your kids to learn oh yeah this is one time I'm glad that we're not at visual media but George does this we get this this is this is the one time you're happy it's not a visual media I'm happy every time I could say I could say that about one or eight hundred times we have I'm a hot looking guy said no one ever well at least one person has she was drunk when she said I need therapy oh from last night's screening I'll tell you a story off air okay oh god all right so here's how we do the final analysis we're not going to give you a thumbs up thumbs down we're not going to give you letter grades numbers quarters anything like that I'm going to ask you gentlemen up to two questions question number one is would they see this film again if the answers know then we're done here but if the answers yes my follow up questions going to be how far they willing to go to see it from the best of the best of the worst of the best here's how it works best of the best full price of the theater down to a twilight showing down to a matinee down to early morning on a weekend down to second run at the dollar down to actually leaving your house to get it from red box down to streaming to Netflix down to waiting for it on cable dawn would you see rampage again yeah and I would honestly personally like to see it in 3d personally after seeing this I think 3d at what level but I mean in any kind of 3d unit fits in that like the dollar theater but as a recommendation I would say any kind of theater because I think it's we're seeing in the theater from a dollar theater up to twilight I just can't give the coveted it was still right there on the end yeah I'd say even a Saturday afternoon matinee even twilight in the theater it's we're seeing in the theater and I honestly feel it might be worth the three extra bucks for 3d whatever is showing you're seeing it jab which is again kick yeah how far you want to go full bore oh so you're full price yeah all right I would love to see the next level I mean given that we started at iMacs there's only so much higher you can go I feel like I want to do this in Dolby cinema yes I think the better the screen the better the sound system I don't know that 3d would add all that much because I really can't recall any scenes where they had anything kind of flying at you or the city's being destroyed that's I mean again I'm giving buster sign finance I mean the spikes on the but it's like it's like that long but I just the space scene I mean you know maybe maybe it might be worth the 3d I don't know but two three extra bucks I said it's worth it and again I've often how many times if I quoted Clay's comment of I've never seen 3d make the story better uh but this is a lot of fun it's it's it's great to go as a group it's great if you're a fan of retro's 80s arcade games and it's great if you just like to see things getting blowed up stuff's gonna split currently right split literally in half on rotten tomatoes 50 interesting but it is directed by Brad Peyton and it is rampage for in this whole thing yes again we got thank everybody JT and her bait leavenson for thank you guys so much for giving the boys an opportunity I wish I could have been there but to see movies in advance so that we can give our audience the opportunities to use their entertainment bills and monies wise orders yeah absolutely tokens all right let's do the plugs visit our website we mentioned it a couple of times www.theclubhousepodcast.com find out everything you need to know in some stuff you don't you can follow us on social media twitter is at clubhouse show everything else is the clubhouse podcast all three words in that order are you gonna wind up somewhere else you can follow me on social media if you would like everything is at yes that rob urwin that is spelled ERVIN I am at chat in PG i'm at fun dongle and twitter email me at don at the clubhousepodcast.com email don for information on how we can come do a live show for you we love doing live shows and hanging out with the empire you can email me questions comments concerns tell me to go pound sand I am rob at the clubhouse podcast.com I am chat at the clubhousepodcast.com Charlotte Parker is on Pinterest because we're morally obligated to say that jules warman got the house waiting on her husband faith four to head to house waiting on her husband our normal show every sunday night seven eastern four pacific is your one stop shop for all things pop culture or just keep subscribing on your favorite podcast app and get all the cool stuff like this so until next time for dawn chat in the empire i'm rob clubhouse is closed i mean you could have had britney paumer as a lap assistant i'm just saying there's always a place for her