San Andreas

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Ioan Gruffudd, Archie Panjabi, Paul Giamatti, Hugo Johnstone-Burt, Art Parkinson, Will Yun Lee, Kylie Minogue
Directed by: Brad Peyton
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
2015

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A helicopter rescue pilot (Dwayne Johnson) must fight to save his daughter (Alexandra Daddario) and estranged wife (Carla Gugino) as California is rocked by a historic earthquake.

Review:

Tim: I was pretty excited to see San Andreas as I'm a big disaster movie fan and it's been way too long since we've had an earthquake movie. After seeing the film, there's definitely some big positives, but there's a number of flaws in the movie as well. I probably liked the movie a bit more than I should have, but these kinds of summer blockbusters are a lot of fun. While flawed, it was still an entertaining, enjoyable experience.

In disaster movies, there's two really important aspects the movie needs to hit. First off, the destruction needs to be exciting and believable. Secondly (and most importantly), you have to have characters you actually care about. Without the second one, the first one feels empty. Let's tackle the destruction first. San Andreas does a fairly good job of this. Despite the fact that some of what we see is ludicrous (an earthquake in California wouldn't trigger a tsunami that hits the coast, for example), it's pretty fun to see such widespread damage. We see the ground rolling like it's a wave (can you imagine?), we see massive gorges open in the land. We see buildings topple and fall. Even though it's impossible, we do get to see a tsunami wipe out San Francisco. It's all great fun to watch because it's fictional. That is one of the reasons I love disaster movies- you can see the elements batter humanity, but it's all just for fun. The movie does a pretty good job in the destruction department. Now, I will say that the final earthquake (the big one) felt a little anticlimactic to me. One of the characters mentions it's the largest earthquake ever recorded and my first thought was, "THAT was it?" I expected more mayhem. Still, throughout the film, the disasters we see were portrayed fairly effectively.

Secondly, we have the human element. This is where the movie falls down a bit. I have to give everyone involved great credit for at least trying to make this work. Too many movies fail because character development is an afterthought. San Andreas spends a lot of time developing its characters. It doesn't always work effectively, but you have to truly value the attempt, even as you sift through the cliches. The heart of the story is about a fractured family. Dwayne Johnson is the soon-to-be ex-husband. Carla Gugino has moved on and is now with Ioan Gruffudd. Their daughter, Alexandra Daddario is somewhat caught into the middle. Now, there are some compelling moments in the film. Unfortunately, there's too many other moments that feel forced or cliched with these characters. The mom's new boyfriend proves to be a coward. Johnson doesn't seem believable as Daddario's father- whenever he answers a phone call or talks to her, it's like he is trying too hard. There was nothing natural about his performance. I like Johnson a lot, but this role felt like it was too much of a stretch for him. He's believable in the action scenes (of which he gets to do surprisingly little) but really felt thin as the father figure. I do wish Johnson had more to do than fly helicopters or planes. Gugino was fine, but she didn't add a ton to the film. Gruffudd had a thankless, predictable role. Daddario actually manages to give one of the stronger performances of the film. She's fine from an acting standpoint. Her character was really well written, though. Disaster movies often paint the female characters as damsels in distress, so it was great fun to see Daddario as the one who saves two men multiple times (she does need to be rescued initially, however). This is actually one of the best parts of the film- showing a young woman as strong, intelligent, and heroic. I loved that part of the film. Paul Giamatti doesn't get to interact with the rest of the main cast much, but he adds a great deal through his strong performance. His line about "You will feel it on the East Coast" gave me chills- he delivers it perfectly. So, the cast is slightly above average, but I never fully believed their performances. Too many cliches hurt this aspect of the film.

While this movie is flawed, it still came out at a wonderful time. It's been too long since we got a big budget disaster movie. I think the film and those responsible for it should get some credit for the timeliness of the film. If this was the third earthquake movie to roll out in the last year, I might have been harsher towards it. However, it was refreshing and exciting since it's been too long. For that reason, I had more fun with the movie and was more forgiving of its flaws. While San Andreas will never be close a great movie, it was (mostly) entertaining and fun.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Earthquake, The Towering Inferno