The summer movie season is here and once again I am struggling to catch up. However that has not kept me from seeing Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's newest film San Andreas. The Rock has had an interesting transition from football player to professional wrestler and now to headline action star. He stars as a rescue helicopter pilot who's mission has him trying to save his family from a major earthquake along the San Andreas fault in California. I feel that the disaster movie genre has fell on hard times despite advancing CGI technologies and ballooning movie budgets. Following the disappointment that was Cloverfield and the over the top destruction of 2009's 2012 apocalypse, I felt my own interest in the genre waning. Will Mr. Johnson be able to save his family and keep my interest for the film's entire run time?
The movie begins with Ray (The Rock) and his helicopter rescue crew rescuing a young woman tho was trapped in a car on a cliff. He is estranged from his wife Emma (Carla Gugino) while trying to maintain his relationship with his daughter Blair (Alexandra Daddario) Ray and are getting divorced and she is moving in with her new boyfriend a wealthy businessman played by Ioan Gruffudd. Ray is terrified at the thought of losing is relationship with now adult daughter and his ex-wife. The movie cuts to Paul Gimatti's character, a Caltech professor who after experiencing an earthquake at the Hoover Dam firsthand, is sure that the 'Big One' will target California next.
From then the quake and a series of related disasters hits Los Angeles and San Francisco and the Rock steals a helicopter, rescues his wife and then sets off to save his daughter. The characterization is rather interesting. Blair herself is rather independent and only becomes an actual damsel in distress near the story's conclusion. The two British brothers that Blair befriends are actually more of the characters that need saving. The older brother in particular needed to be bailed out of dangerous situations several times. The younger brother is an example of a child performance that I actually didn't. Gruffudd starts as a likable character who tries to save Blair after she was trapped in the initial earthquake but abruptly turns into a self-serving cowardly caricature. I felt that the choice was most disappointing. The film delves in to the story of the couples other daughter who died in a boating accident years prior to the events of the film. This is shown is flashback throughout San Andreas and isn't fully addressed until the Earth stops trembling. The other daughter's death and the continued fallout from that event, both serves as Ray's primary motivation and gives the film some heart. The effects were good as were the scenes of destruction including some over the top bits involving racing/ surfing a tidal wave in a speedboat.
Overall while San Andreas doesn't save the disaster film genre is does provide a load of action and a dash of heart. On the scale of spectacle its less politically charged than The Day After Tomorrow and less intellectually insulting than 2012. Fans of the Rock and disaster movies will like it, residents of the The Golden State most likely less so.
The movie begins with Ray (The Rock) and his helicopter rescue crew rescuing a young woman tho was trapped in a car on a cliff. He is estranged from his wife Emma (Carla Gugino) while trying to maintain his relationship with his daughter Blair (Alexandra Daddario) Ray and are getting divorced and she is moving in with her new boyfriend a wealthy businessman played by Ioan Gruffudd. Ray is terrified at the thought of losing is relationship with now adult daughter and his ex-wife. The movie cuts to Paul Gimatti's character, a Caltech professor who after experiencing an earthquake at the Hoover Dam firsthand, is sure that the 'Big One' will target California next.
From then the quake and a series of related disasters hits Los Angeles and San Francisco and the Rock steals a helicopter, rescues his wife and then sets off to save his daughter. The characterization is rather interesting. Blair herself is rather independent and only becomes an actual damsel in distress near the story's conclusion. The two British brothers that Blair befriends are actually more of the characters that need saving. The older brother in particular needed to be bailed out of dangerous situations several times. The younger brother is an example of a child performance that I actually didn't. Gruffudd starts as a likable character who tries to save Blair after she was trapped in the initial earthquake but abruptly turns into a self-serving cowardly caricature. I felt that the choice was most disappointing. The film delves in to the story of the couples other daughter who died in a boating accident years prior to the events of the film. This is shown is flashback throughout San Andreas and isn't fully addressed until the Earth stops trembling. The other daughter's death and the continued fallout from that event, both serves as Ray's primary motivation and gives the film some heart. The effects were good as were the scenes of destruction including some over the top bits involving racing/ surfing a tidal wave in a speedboat.
Overall while San Andreas doesn't save the disaster film genre is does provide a load of action and a dash of heart. On the scale of spectacle its less politically charged than The Day After Tomorrow and less intellectually insulting than 2012. Fans of the Rock and disaster movies will like it, residents of the The Golden State most likely less so.
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