San Andreas (Review)

 

San Andreas (2015)

Action, Drama, Thriller

Directed By: Brad Peyton

When I first saw the trailer for this a few months back it got me legitimately excited to see it. If you read the post I put up the other day then you know that I'm a big fan of the disaster genre. There is a ton to be appreciated in the special effects/VFX work and they typically make for great popcorn flicks. Also, with today's technology where it is, watching California get completely destroyed sounded like the perfect summer movie. Not only did this look to be a stunning visual experience but they went ahead and cast Dwayne Johnson in the lead role. Watching The Rock dodge earthquakes to save his family seemed like and almost guaranteed recipe for success. While the box office definitely agrees with that (the opening numbers were around $53 million US numbers, Johnson's biggest solo opening of his career) I am not quite sure this was the movie we were looking for.

Like most disaster movies the plot is simple; a father (Dwayne Johnson) must find and rescue his lost daughter (Alexandra Daddario) and wife (Carla Gugino) after deadly earthquakes level both Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Rock stars as the not nearly as charismatic as you'd hoped Ray, who makes a living as a rescue-chopper pilot. We find out early on that he is taking the weekend off to drive his daughter back to college and they also sneak in that he is going through a divorce. After a series of unexpected quakes hit in Nevada, Ray is pulled away from his plans leaving his daughter to be taken back to school by her mom’s new boyfriend (Ioan Gruffudd). There's your set up for the rest of the film, as Ray leaves California the quakes hit and he now has to save both his wife in LA and his daughter who is now in San Francisco.

Now I know that we don't go see these movies for academy worthy scripts and performances but I would like the think there was some thought put into the story. With San Andreas I felt nothing, every role felt like a caricature of what they were supposed to be. They cast one of the most charismatic working actors right now with Dwayne Johnson and not even he could keep this ship afloat. Not only that, but you cast Carla Gugino as his wife and Alexandra Daddario as his daughter, both of whom I am big fans of. These three characters should have been a blast to watch run through hell but instead I just felt like their talents were completely wasted. Even more so, I think the biggest misuse of talent in this movie is Paul Giamatti. Cast as the excitable seismologist, he should have been a key role in this movie and a stand out character. I actually would have liked to see his side of the story focused on more, the science is what’s most interesting.

If there is one good thing to say about this movie it's that it's pretty to look at. The action is well done and all of the destruction scenes are visually stunning. Not to mention it features possibly the sexiest fictional family of all time. Right from the beginning of the movie we are thrown into chaos when a girl’s car is thrown from a cliff by a landslide with her still in it. From there we don't go more than ten minutes without a scene of destruction where notable US landmarks are leveled and countless people are dying. I was a huge fan of the aerial shots from the chopper as well where we got to see what the quake looks like from above. This appeared to be where they put all of their effort as it was rare to find a visual flaw in the movie. Watching buildings collapse and the world break open is something I will never tire of and that's what kept me hanging on the entire time.

All of that considered though, I found the impact of most of the big action sequences to be lost to poor writing. Usually in these kinds of movies they will make a strong emphasis on when the biggest points of action will be, this builds the anticipation as well as prepares you for what’s coming. In San Andreas it felt like they put almost no emphasis on these events, I found myself realizing I was watching the biggest moments of destruction halfway through the scene and then scrambling to try and remember what I saw before noticing. This killed the overall impact of a lot of those key scenes for me. One moment someone will be describing a major point of the movie and then before you know it you’re in the middle of it and you don't realize it’s even happening. I feel like I have to mention that there isn't much morality to the film either, they all seem to save people only when convenient for them while not even reacting to the thousands of other dying around them. Oh, and the moms boyfriend played by Ioan Gruffardd is one of the worst people ever. They at least have some fun with him though; his antics bring about one of the few real comedic reliefs of the movie.

In the end I left the theater with a smile on my face if not only because there is a ton to poke fun at with this movie. The final scene literally made me laugh out loud and it definitely wasn't supposed to. If you're a big fan of disaster movies I say definitely check it out to make your own opinion. Otherwise I don't see this film having too much more to offer to the average movie goer, your money would be better spent on something like Mad Max instead (seriously, just go see Fury Road again and if you haven't seen it yet, what the hell are you doing with yourself?). If you do plan on seeing this movie though go see it in the theater, I'm happy I at least saw it on the big screen for the visual spectacle. It doesn't feel good to be let down by The Rock but I think these box office numbers will get him plenty of more lead roles, I want to see what he can do with a good script. For now I'll just be happy with his past work.

As always, thanks for reading! I am Zach Who Watches Movies and you can find me on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!