Rampage : The Movie (Or How To Make A Successful Video Game Movie : Part 1)

So Prince of Persia : The Sands Of Time was pretty much dead on arrival. It had a big budget behind it, some bankable stars, and it's based on a very popular video game series. So what went wrong? Plenty. For example, being accused of white washing (Jake Gyllenhaal is not Persian.) How many other video games have been turned into movies and have just been bad? Super Mario Bros. is a travesty. Street Fighter is about as cheesy as it gets. How about Wing Commander? Has anyone actually ever watched it? I can't name anyone who has. So why is it so hard to make a good video game movie? It's not. The formula is not hard to follow. We're going to use Rampage as the example as to where to start.

The first problem is taking well known plans, and having them adapt to the screen. Usually there are too many changes to the plot or story to make it work, and it loses appeal. So you take a game with a pretty loose plot that you can adapt, like Rampage. The plot of the original Rampage was that up to three players can play at once, and play as a giant ape, George, giant wolf, Ralph, or a giant lizard, Lizzie, and you have to destroy every building on the level to move on. These giant monsters were created by experimenting on humans. Simple plot, and able to be adapted. Newer incarnations has created Scumlabs as the group who experimented on the three humans. We can start here. Three college kids, two male, one female, who are hard up for money get hired as 'taste testers' for a new kind of soda. So they go to the labs on a Friday, so they can stay overnight for testing. They drink the soda Friday, by Saturday night they turn into monsters, and are placed into holding cells to be studied by the Lab. For this to work, you can't use Scumlabs as the name. So the labs can be renamed. Realizing now that they are imprisoned and going to be studied, they devise a plan to get out of the Lab. They subdue a guard, gorge themselves on the 'soda' and turn back into the monsters, but have now grown to be a few stories high. With the Lab trying to recapture them the three college kids, now as massively over sized monsters, set out to destroy the Lab, and their parent company. See, simple.

The next step comes from the writing. The story has to be told in a Ghostbusters/Evolution kind of way. It has to be an action/comedy. There's plenty of visual gags, and commentary gags to go around when the three friends are all giant monsters. Add into this a love story between Lizzie and either George or Ralph, whoever would be decided as the leader of the group, and there's plenty to work with here. The main villain is the owner of the company responsible for the creation of the three monsters. In the game, his name is Eustace DeMonic, and in order to save himself, he becomes a monster himself. This fits well into the movie. The name of the character in the game is a little outlandish, so that would have to be changed. Maybe go with a bit of humor and go with Williams Fences. The climatic battle would be between the three monsters, and the head of the company, all as giant monsters, and laying waste to a city. The looseness of the plot allows for a sequel also. In the newer Rampage games, the monsters fight aliens. So you could establish the founder of the company as an alien in disguise, experimenting on humans in order to weaken them for an alien invasion. This is easily incorporated into a movie.

The trick here is also in the casting. I think exploiting a conflict between the young and old would be useful here. For George or Ralph I would cast someone who is looking to break out, and change the stereotype that has been molded to them. Zac Effron immediately comes to mind. I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to be typecast as a pretty boy high school kid who can sing and dance. The other role would be good for a Mark Salling, or a Dijon Talton. For Lizzie, I would go the same route. I'd be looking for someone like a Naya Rivera, Christy Carlson Romano, Britney Song, or Adrienne Bailon. The evil owner would be a good play for a guy like Alec Baldwin, or Oliver Platt.

I would then promote this movie the same way Die Hard was first promoted. Quick clips, no monsters in the commercials. Explosions, people screaming and running, and a guy on the phone being told 'they're coming for you.' It's mysterious enough for people to be curious enough to want to check it out.

King Kong did well at the box office, and it took itself pretty seriously, same with Cloverfield. So what if we took elements of those movies and made it into an action/comedy, and the heroes are the giant monsters? This movie could easily turn into a franchise trilogy. As long as the script balances comedy and action, and makes the characters even somewhat interesting, it'd be a great summer flick. Explosions, giant monsters, and a crazy kissing scene between a giant lizard and a giant ape or wolf would be hysterical, and top the awesomeness. We're not looking to win awards with this movie. We are looking to have people enjoy themselves.