Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Hugo Johnstone-Burt, Paul Giamatti
Distributor: Roadshow Films
Runtime: 114 mins. Reviewed in May 2015
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Monumentally moronic and CGI-heavy, this is not a film for discerning fans of arthouse or cultured cinema – though you presumably could guess as much by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s presence leading this disaster flick. Watching ‘San Andreas’, you have to check your brain at the door and enjoy it for what it proudly is, a frequently staggering juggernaut of noise and fury which leaves no earth unquaked along the titular American fault line.
Chief Roy Gains of Los Angeles Fire and Rescue (Dwayne Johnson) is a heroic figure, introduced as he miraculously saves a young woman from a car stuck atop a ravine, winching her away in the nick of time. He has organised to drive his daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario) to college, picking her up from the home of his ex-wife Emma (Carla Gugino) and her new boyfriend Daniel (Ioan Gruffudd).
Professor Lawrence Haynes (Paul Giamatti) is pioneering an early detection system for earthquakes with his partner. They follow some tremors to Las Vegas, where a previously hidden fault line reveals itself in a ferocious earthquake, shattering the Hoover Dam into pieces and killing countless, digitally created and expendables extras (with presumably thousands of gigabytes more perishing off screen). Gains is called on duty to assist with the clean-up effort in Vegas, taking him away from his family. However, this is just the first of a series of record breaking quakes which strike California, causing tsunamis and other natural disasters. When his ex-wife and daughter are imperilled in different cities along the West Coast, Gains will stop at nothing to save his family in the face of cataclysmic destruction.
The script from Cartlon Cuse falls neatly into the already large pile of disaster films, ticking the required boxes to propel the narrative from set piece to set piece. Cities are levelled with abandon, and bodies are tossed through the air with no regard to their humanity. We are invited to revel in the destruction and ignore the weak scripting of its largely archetypal characters. Fortunately for this film, I was able to oblige, though I must stress again that it is not a film for everyone – if anything above has you wincing in recognition, best steer clear.
Director Brad Peyton aims for computer-generated destruction over practical effects, which limits its impact somewhat, but when the scale is so ambitious it’s hard not to feel some awe when skyscrapers tumble and the earth cracks open. There is some impressive visual showmanship on display, including some good use of ‘long takes’. I was left literally open-mouthed several times, spurred on by composer Andrew Lockington’s vigorous orchestral arrangements and the robust sound design shaking my seat.
In the lead, Johnson is as muscular and physically imposing as ever. He is as sturdy and reliable as his wrestling moniker suggests, and carries a film which could be easily renamed The Rock vs. An Earthquake. Admittedly, he gets more backstory than his film roles usually allow, and he sneaks in some emotion here and there. The rest of the cast are all fine – Daddario is a very charming presence, and Giamatti raves his way through his soothsaying academic role with ease.
Low-brow entertainment, yes, but a guilty pleasure nonetheless for anyone who has ever wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge swatted in two by an enormous wave wielding a container ship. You will already know if this demographic includes you. Others should remain at home.
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