SAN ANDREAS - updated

(2015) 114 Minutes, Rated PG-13

A.C.’s Review:  The disaster film is a time honored tradition dating back to the weeks after the TITANIC’s sinking when the first low budget film arrived to detail the tragedy that shocked the world. A long held favorite of this genre is tackling “The Big One”…the massive long overdue quake that is destined to hit Southern California when the San Andreas fault line at long last slips under the Teutonic pressure that has been building up underneath some of America’ most prime real estate.

Different takes on the subject have been presented  such as the soap opera-ish EARTHQUAKE in 1974 with Lorne Greene and a cast of thousands. Then there was SUPERMAN-THE MOVIE where Lex Luthor’s entire scheme was to  create prime beach front property in Nevada by wiping out So-Cal by triggering the San Andrea fault. There are many more but now in 2015 we have this movie.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson fresh from a glorified cameo in FURIOUS SEVEN stars as a helicopter rescue pilot who must risk all to save his daughter and estranged wife when The Big One hits. There are spectacular scenes of destruction as a swam of quakes exacts its toll on Hoover Dam, LA and ultimately the gorgeous city of San Francisco. It may be mostly CGI but in a movie like this the CGI is done with such expertise that it looks pretty convincing.

The story is obviously a simple one but it doesn’t need to be anything else for a movie of this type. Johnson does a fine job as the pilot and the supporting characters such as Paul Giamatii’s seismologist and Archie Panjabi as a TV reporter all do an admirable job as they soldier along in their subplot.

I really feel I have nothing critical to say about this movie other than how the family comes together at the end is a little bit to coincidental and there is also the tired disaster movie trope of the pilot’s wife having an evil and cowardly new boyfriend who is just in the movie to get thrown into the body count with a spectacular death.

I see a lot of movies, and this is by far one of the best that’s come out in 2015. Highly recommend.

Best Scene: Hard to pick as there are so many but the sequence of a tsunami bearing down on San Francisco was pretty epic.

A.C.’s Rating: Full Price (Must be seen on a big screen) Preferably in an RPX or  IMAX theater.

Mike’s Review:  Kind of boring and over hyped.  I liked the idea of this movie, the Rock saving people in a disaster movie has all kinds of potential but for some reason I just couldn't get into this movie.  First off I thought the special effects could have been better, sure some of the scenes were pretty cool, but the poor Golden Gate bridge has been destroyed in a lot of movies. You would think by now they could come up with something else to give you a wow factor.  I thought all the scenes in the little boat were very fake looking and the whole saving his daughter underwater scene was so over done it was almost comical.

The back story of the other daughter dying and leading to the divorce, either should have been rethought or just not even used.  I even like Carla Gugino as an actress but she just didn't seem to fit as a wife or soon to be ex-wife of the Rock.  If they had spent more time developing the characters and story and maybe even changed the cast around a little bit then this movie could have been huge.  

Best Scene: I liked it when the rich guy got squished.

Mike's Rating: DVD