Movie Review: Last Rampage - Painfully Average

Genre: Crime

Director: Dwight Little

Cast: Robert Patrick, Chris Browning, Heather Graham, Alex MacNicoll, Casey Thomas Brown, Skyy Moore, Bruce Davison, and Molly C. Quinn.

Studio: Epic Pictures

Runtime: 93 minutes

Release Date: In theaters and on VOD September 22, 2017

Rated: R

Rating ★★★★★

True crime stories, I believe, are always inherently fascinating. Something about how evil people can be and what they’re capable of doing catches my morbid sense of curiosity. So, any film that is based on a real crime I naturally tend to seek out and Last Rampage is one of them.

Last Rampage is the true story of Gary Tison (Robert Patrick) and Randy Greenwalt (Chris Browning), two convicts who escape from an Arizona State prison in the summer of 1978. Aided by Tison’s three sons, Donnie (Alex MacNicoll), Ray (Casey Thomas Brown), and Ricky (Skyy Moore), the group makes a break for Mexico while being hunted by Sheriff Cooper (Bruce Davison) who’s desperate to lock them away before bodies start piling up.

Movie Review: <em>Last Rampage</em> - Painfully Average 2

Robert Patrick As Gary Tison

I’ll get straight to the point. Last Rampage is a movie that’s perfectly average in every way. It holds your interest while watching but does little to be considered exceptional. Most likely, it will escape your memory by week’s end.

The movie is very cut and dry in its direction and script. Director Little takes the story from point A to point B, presenting the tale in a very procedural manner. The cinematography is reflective of this too as most of the camerawork simply switches from one character to another as they speak. Last Rampage has the coldness and sterility of a Wikipedia article.

It’s due to these problems that the film lacks tension. Most of Last Rampage follows the group of felons as they drive around the desert talking to each other. Sometimes, it’s about their future when they get to Mexico and other times, the manhunt for them but primarily, it’s just small talk. That could work if the dialogue were sharp and fast paced but it’s not. There are a handful of moments that are memorable due to their disturbing nature. The best sequence is when Tison and Greenwalt take a family hostage and then debate what to do with them. The scene is surprisingly tense and hard to watch and unfortunately, there are only a few scenes like it in the film.

Movie Review: <em>Last Rampage</em> - Painfully Average 3

Tison’s Boys

The performances, however, are well done. Patrick does a wonderful job of portraying the two sides of Tison, taking him from being surprisingly friendly and approachable to frightening and threatening at the drop of a hat. And Browning’s Greenwalt is understated, giving the character a quiet intensity. Patrick and Browning have great onscreen chemistry and do an excellent job of playing off one another. These performances, though, are undercut by how underdeveloped the characters are. However, there are moments in Last Rampage where this works in the film’s favor. Greenwalt becomes more threatening due to the aura of mystery around him and his trigger-happiness leads you to feel unsettled by his presence. Where this doesn’t work is with Tison and his sons, who have significantly more screen time. It’s hard to get deeply invested when half the movie you’re unsure of why Tison is acting the way he is, or which son is which due to how one-dimensional the characters are.

Writers Alvaro Rodriguez and Jason Rosenblatt include a subplot involving Tison’s wife Dorothy (Heather Graham) and Marisa (Molly C. Quinn), a reporter, which could have added a bit of complexity to Last Rampage. The interview attempts to give you more insight into how Tison’s sons were brought up and what motivation they have to help Tison escape. But even these scenes aren’t very deep, other than Dorothy repeating, “They’re good boys who love their daddy.”

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Heather Graham as Dorothy Tison

As the film ended, I felt the same as I did when it began — indifferent. Last Rampage is not so much bad than it is very forgettable. It may please those who are heavily interested in the story of Gary Tison and Randy Greenwalt or true crime stories. For others though, there’s not enough here to fully recommend.

For more on this film visit:
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5833186/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LastRampageFilm/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LastRampageFilm
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lastrampagefilm/

All Photos: ©2017 Epic Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

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Dustin Kogler

Professional amateur movie watcher. Dustin is a laid-back nerd who loves discussing pop culture. He loves listening to 80s music, playing video games and watching netflix all day. He's pretty sarcastic and if you tell him your favorite movie he can tell you why you're wrong.