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If you were to bullet-point a list of criteria that you’d associate with a summer blockbuster, then it’s fair to say San Andreas would have every single one ticked.
It’s as stereotypical as they come, with explosions, destruction, damsels-in-distress requiring an impossibly-muscled macho man to save them and cliché one-liners aplenty.
But that isn’t to say it’s a bad thing. Far from it, the movie offers a great deal of fun and its mash-up of action and disaster will have you sat on the edge of your seat as you shovel another handful of popcorn into your mouth.
‘Disaster’ is the summertime genre of choice these days, and as you may have guessed from the title, the world’s most famous fault is shifting and the earth is about to swallow Hollywood’s favourite go-to metropolis when destruction and collapsing bridges are called for: San Francisco.
The film centres on Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s Ray Gaines, an LAFD helicopter-rescue pilot in the midst of a divorce from his wife Emma (Gugino). When the earthquake hits (‘the largest-ever recorded’, naturally), Ray travels with Emma to save their daughter Blake (Daddario) from the chaos and rubble.
As always, The Rock is the best part of this movie. He was my hero growing up during my professional wrestling phase, and there’s still no one better at oozing charisma whether it be through his uber-serious ‘ready for action’ stare, or his eyebrow-raising smile that would melt an iceberg.
If you’re a fan of his movies (and you should be), he’s the main reason to see this one. As recent efforts like Hercules and Fast & Furious have shown, no human is a match for him, so to put him up against the most powerful being of all, Mother Nature, puts him in a position we haven’t quite seen before. He successfully anchors the proceedings here, providing both the muscle and the selfless determination demanded in a lead role that requires authority and a calming voice of reason during a mass panic.
Nailing the action scenes are a given considering his physique and history, but he also gets a fair crack at more tender, dramatic moments too. They’re a little out of his comfort zone, but thanks to some great chemistry with the two female leads, he pulls it off. It’d be nice to see him branch out in future and take on a role that requires more dialogue than breaking bones, as he obviously has the talent.
With a film like this, the visuals need to be spot-on otherwise the whole thing looks a little silly. Thankfully, no expense has been spared and the scale and scope of San Andreas is impressive. Buildings crumble and there’s more cracks than a building site, but they’re well-executed and spaced out enough that it doesn’t get exhausting.
Director Brad Peyton has also chosen to make use of an extensive colour palette and the frame pops with vibrant detail, which is a welcome relief from the usual beige-brown sepia associated with this type of movie.
No matter how expansive and innovative the set-pieces are, even the most action-orientated cinema fan would get a little tired if the whole thing was two hours of destruction. Therefore, the more tender family moments are welcome, even if they’re a little bit predictable.
For example, Blake’s scenes almost always involve her doing the exact opposite of what the authorities say, just so she can get into a heap of trouble and require Ray to perform a miracle to rescue her. By the third time, it’s eye-rollingly infuriating in its predictability and plain dumbness.
And yes, she does end up trapped in the same collapsed building as a doe-eyed, handsome 20-something, and yes, there’s the obviously-forced romantic sub-plot.
So, while it won’t win any awards for originality and its predictability is occasionally grating, San Andreas is definitely worth a watch thanks to a fantastic performance from The Rock, solid set-pieces and some outstanding visuals.
