Review – Uwe Boll’s Rampage

10th June 2010

Okay,so no doubt most readers are going to be aware of director Uwe Boll. It’s not uncommon to hear him described as ‘worst director of all time’ and has sometimes been compared to the director Ed Wood who was documented in Tim Burton’s best film of the same name.

Rampage is the latest offering from Boll and surprisingly it’s not anywhere near as awful as you may expect. It starts out by introducing us to Bill a 25 year old who had had enough of being pushed around. He is hassled by his parents, his boss and even the owner of the local coffee shop. This leads up to Bill suiting up in Kevlar armour, arming himself with automatic weapons and going on a horrific killing spree across town.

Boll chose to shoot the film documentary style and it is extremely effective, making the kills feel all the more real. Boll also makes the wise decision to not be too graphic with the violence, often cutting to close ups of the protagonist’s eyes as we hear the violence happening off screen or just showing very quick shots. On the odd time the camera does linger on the murders it is not done in gleeful horror movie style, it is instead to show us the consequences of this kind of violence.

Brendan Fletcher plays the lead in the film and gives a good performance in the role. In the first act he makes you care for his character which makes the killing spree all the more shocking and effective. The problem however is that the film never really makes a statement or gives a reason for tackling this horrifying subject matter. It ends admittedly in an unexpected way but it does make you wonder what Boll’s intentions were. The first two acts feel like he is trying to say something about violence and the many similar real life incidents. Instead the film leaves you feeling as though Boll may agree with the actions of his protagonist or that the film was made simply to cause a stir and earn Boll a couple of news headlines.

The film is shot in a very realistic manner and the editing keeps the film moving and the viewer on the edge of their seat. It is just unfortunate that the film’s final act really drops the ball and leaves you scratching your head as to what exactly was being said by the filmmaker.

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