San Andreas might be one of the better disaster movies in years, but the cheesy fun doesn't outweigh iffy visuals and a narrative with cracks that expose the film's commercial, rather than creative, ambitions.
Dwayne Johnson stars as Raymond Gaines, an L.A. Fire & Rescue chief whose ship literally comes in when the San Andreas fault sets off a massive earthquake and tsunami across California. In the aftermath, Gaines embarks on a dangerous personal mission to rescue his daughter in San Francisco.
Johnson leads a strong supporting cast including Carla Gugino as his ex-wife Emma, Alexandra Daddario as their daughter Blake, and Paul Giamatti as Cal Tech seismologist Lawrence. Director Brad Peyton has stated that most of the cast performed their own stunts, and it shows in their reactions. Even though most of the mayhem is out of left field, and some of the CGI looks a bit too cartoony, the performances make the events on screen feel real.
The film might have been even more fun if screenwriter Carlton Cuse had decided to team up Ray and Lawrence with one guiding the other through the treacherous landscape. If not, I would have liked to see those characters cross paths at some point at least. As such, their plots remain entirely separate and have no bearing on the outcome of the other. Sad.
Another big issue I had with the story of San Andreas is that there are moments where you think Cuse is about to take massive, albeit refreshing, risks with the characters and then cops out in favor of "warm-n-fuzzy" feelings.
However, the film earns points for at least flirting with serious consequences for the lead characters as individuals, something that is sorely missing from today's blockbusters. It also does away with the insubstantial exposition that marred The Day After Tomorrow and bloated 2012 to nearly three hours. San Andreas has a constant sense of urgency, and it's all about how the characters are reacting to their life-changing situation. There's no time to bide time. I'm looking at you, Jake Gyllenhaal and John Cusack!
San Andreas is the kind of schlock that's still worth seeing on the big screen because of its grand scale and massive destruction scenes. It's not a "great" film, but I'd be disappointed if I waited to rent this one at home. Fans of old-school disaster films should feel confident catching a discount matinee while they still can.
C+
No comments:
Post a Comment