Movie review: San Andreas

The big one is here! The San Andreas fault has just activated and the West Coast is shaking from San Francisco to LA. Meanwhile, rescue pilot Ray and his estranged wife Emma must rescue their daughter Blake from the middle of San Francisco and a scientist races to notify the entire West Coast.

Dwayne Johnson (Raymond), Carla Gugino (Emma), Alexandra Daddario (Blake), Paul Giamatti (Dr. Hayes), Ioan Gruffudd (Daniel), Hugo Johnstone-Burt (Ben), Art Parkinson (Ollie), Will Yun Lee (Dr. Kim), Archie Panjabi (Serena).

Thankfully San Andreas adds a couple of parallel storylines or this would be a one-dimensional action flick at best. We have Ray and his estranged wife Emma racing from LA to San Francisco to save their daughter Blake from the quakes and the story quite literally throws everything disaster related it can think of at them. Blake meanwhile develops and instant romantic relationship with Ben. At the same time Dr. Hayes, who just realized he can predict earthquakes, is trying to warn the West Coast that things are only getting started. All of that keeps the film interesting, but not great.

Acting was, well, when Johnson is the lead actor that should give you a clue. Surprisingly he did well, toning it down a bit and feeling almost realistic. Gugino was enjoyable, and fun to watch. Daddario added greatly to the film with a decent performance punctuated with running scenes once in a while. Giamatti was in-type and delivered as usual, while Johnstone-Burt and Parkinson did pretty well.

Camera work, sets, backgrounds, and CGI were what this one was all about. Gigantic CGI scenes dominated with tsunami action, bucking earth, fire, explosions and just about anything else you would want for a natural disaster of this size. Dialogue was okay but did little more than keep the plot moving. Sound and soundtrack were okay.

San Andreas has been done, re-done, and in this case over-done. Aside from the plot, acting was reasonable and technical work was well done. Those who enjoy a somewhat mindless action & adventure film should enjoy this one.

With some tense action scenes and peril, this should be fine for preens and above.

Released: 2015
Reviewed: 1.23.16
Star rating: 3 out of 5
Genre: Action & Adventure, Action Drama, Action Thriller, Natural Disasters

copyright ©2016 Dave Riedel