Bullet Points: Rampage: Capital Punishment

Have you ever been surfing through Netflix and some of the poster art grabs your attention? That’s what happened to me this past week when I came across Rampage: Capital Punishment.

Look at that poster, it looks pretty cool doesn’t it? Except in the actual movie they are nowhere near Washington D.C. In fact, the movie wasn’t even shot in the United States. It was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia not the District of Columbia.

British Columbia is however the home province of the star and writer of the film, Brendan Fletcher (who I will always remember from Freddy vs. Jason) reprising his role as Bill Williamson from the 2009 movie, Rampage. I’ll be honest, I had no idea this was a sequel to anything until I started researching the movie for my review.

While Netflix and IMDB both included it in their action genre, the movie is not heavy on action, but it is heavy on killing. And when I say heavy on killing, I mean a disturbing amount. I’ve watched Charles Bronson and Jason Voorhees kill dozens of people in numerous movies, but the realism of Rampage: Capital Punishment is what makes it disturing.

• The Premise: Bill Williamson, who three years earlier went on a killing spree in his hometown claiming 100’s of victims in the process, drops off the grid. Despite a nationwide manhunt, the authorities can not find Williamson. The whole time however, he is becoming an Internet sensation (kind of like Grumpy Cat). Hate groups and political extremists love his view that there are too many people in the world sucking up all of our remaining resources so they should be killed.  He finally resurfaces and this time he targets a TV station, where he holds people hostage so he can get his message out to the entire world.

• The Star: Brendan Fletcher is extremely convincing in this role. He pulls off the role of a guy who truly believes his extreme point of view is 100% the way things should be done. To me it is always obvious when an actor really believes in his character and Fletcher definitely sinks his teeth into this role. But after seeing this movie, if I ever crossed paths with Fletcher, I would not anger him in case he wasn’t acting.
• Supporting Cast: Lochlyn Munro (another British Columbia native) reunites with his Freddy vs. Jason co-star as Chip Parker, the #1 News Anchor in whatever market this movie is supposed to take place in. Director Uwe Boll, who co-wrote the movie with Fletcher, stars as Andy the Producer. Andy is beyond thrilled with the ratings and revenue his station is getting thanks to the “exclusive” Williams dumped on their laps and seems to have no regard for the safety and well being of the people inside the building or the fact that people have died.

• Bill’s Things To Do List: Williamson spends the early part of the movie doing things like… Sitting on a pop up chair in an alley and randomly shooting people and then dragging their bodies back by his chair… Making explosives in his living room… Shaving his head… Advising homeless guys to rob a bank so they are put in jail where they’ll have free food and shelter… Going on rants about the media, Reality TV and Hollywood Movies (not movies shot in Canada however).

This is one of those “one and done” movies for me. I saw it, it wasn’t horrible, but I’m definitely not watching again. Nor would I recommend this movie to anyone basically because if somebody recommended this movie to me I would want to ask what part of a guy killing innocent people for 90 minutes did you think I’d find enjoyable.

The movie reminded me of all the posts I see on Facebook where people debate each other on politics, religion, the economy, health care, etc. I tend to like my movies to be an escape from reality not an over the top version of crap I see every day.

There was one scene in the film that I did appreciate. When the S.W.A.T. team is called in to try to diffuse the situation, they mention how they can not get in through the ventilation system because the duct work is too small for a person to fit in. YES! It reminded me of a point I made in my Bullet Points review of Firetrap not too long ago.

Next time I’m looking for something to watch on Netflix I think I’ll consult Chad’s Picks.