San Andreas

• Directed by Brad Peyton
• May 26, 2015 (LA) / May 29, 2015 (US)

A massive earthquake along the San Andreas Fault devastates the West Coast of the United States.

I seriously expected something bigger and dumber with San Andreas considering Dwayne Johnson is in it. Some of his more recent pictures (I’m looking at you Black Adam) have not been the best. But it wasn’t nearly as stupid or mindless as I thought it might be. I am not calling this a revelation but it is good.

Disaster films these days-at least the good ones-make it more of a drama than they did in the heyday of the genre. San Andreas is more about people and characters and how the disaster affects them. Not to say San Andreas is a perfect film. It has its flaws. There are some cheesy moments and some of the characters could’ve been a little better done but in comparison to other Dwayne Johnson efforts and other disaster films that I watched recently it’s much better.

It’s become a bit of a cliché in modern disaster movies-at least in my perception-that the central couple is having problems and because of a massive, unprecedented disaster patch up their problems before the end credits role. Here it is Dwayne Johnson as Raymond “Ray” Gaines who is a chief rescue helicopter pilot with the Los Angeles Fire Department and Carla Gugino as Emma Gaines who is Ray’s estranged wife who is about to move in with her new boyfriend.

This discord certainly makes it easier to separate the two and their daughter before the event though simple life things could do that. I see no reason why you cannot get similar emotional impact from a husband saving a wife and kid(s). And everybody not getting along is not necessarily better drama. It’s just a thing.

The reason they are having problems is that Ray is suffering massive guilt over the death of their other daughter whom he was unable to save and feels that he should have been able to. While the main plot is survival, the subplot is Ray getting redemption by saving his surviving daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario). Because therapy is tough.

That is the plot(s). Survive the devastation and Ray getting redemption. We also see a douchebag get their comeuppance like in any older disaster films. Emma is currently dating Daniel Riddick (Ioan Gruffudd) who is the owner of a civil engineering firm. During a quake Blake gets trapped in his car and Daniel claims to be running for help but is only fleeing to save his butt. His ultimate disposition is rather satisfying.

Aside from any nitpicking on my part it’s a good movie. It proceeds logically enough and intelligently enough. They are not people without knowledge to survive, but rather people with knowledge to reasonably survive such things. At least enough that it makes sense. Plus even Johnson’s character is not so overly awesome that a record quake is a minor issue.

We also have Paul Giamatti as Caltech seismologist Dr. Lawrence Hayes. He really gets no story arc other than proving his theory to predict quakes right. Forget the thousands that died for that to happen. This gives the character necessary authority so he can highlight any coming danger. “Oh no! Another earthquake is coming and it’s going to be worse than the last one!” “Here comes the whopper!” Things like that.

And that helps make this movie worthwhile. Yes, the film would’ve proceeded just fine without Paul Giamatti, but his material certainly helps. Not only does it add a little context about what we’re seeing and help explain what’s going on to the audience but also ups the drama and the sense of danger.

The effects of San Andreas do a good job (mostly) of showing the characters amongst massive devastation or simply displaying scenes of massive devastation. Most likely because of age there are a few moments where you can tell the characters were composited in. Nothing jarring but just the type of stuff you can detect when effects age.

San Andreas is very entertaining. There’s enough excitement and enough drama all presented in a quality film. If you like disaster films then this is for you!