Review of San Andreas (2015) by Reysonpoint — 06 Jun 2015

San Andreas is big, loud, cheesy, and filled with clichés but boy Is it a fun movie. The film revolves around veteran Ray Gaines played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (The Scorpion King, The Fast and the Furious) who after years of serving in Afghanistan returns and works as a helicopter pilot for the Los Angeles Fire Department. As the movie continues we learn that Ray Gaines is taking some time off from work in order to take his daughter Blake played by Alexandra Daddario (Percy Jackson, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D) to her first week of college. However, Ray’s plans get interrupted by the destruction of the Hoover Dam, forcing him and his Rescue Team to go to work. Upon his arrival, he finds that various earthquakes are starting to happen all over the San Andreas Fault that is affecting the entire state of California. As the earthquakes continue to occur, Ray’s ex-wife played by actress Carla Gugino (Watchmen, Night in the Museum, Sin City) and his daughter Blake become endangered, therefore he must come to their rescue. Along with these characters, we also have Lawrence a seismologist, played by Paul Giamatti (Sideways, 12 Years A Slave) who plays a key role in the film. Lawrence’s main goal is to inform the citizens of California to evacuate and find shelter during this disaster.

As a film, San Andreas is not a masterpiece by any means, but I can assure you that it is an absolute blast to watch on a big screen. The effects team behind this movie did an excellent job bringing the disaster onto the big screen. A lot of the destruction scenes looked sharp, especially the Tsunami scene that “The Rock” Johnson goes against in his boat.

As for the performances in the film, they were not as bad as I expected. Dwayne Johnson steals the show like always thanks to his charismatic attitude and presence on screen. And let’s be honest, if he was not in San Andreas, the movie would be a complete disaster. So props to Mr. Johnson for that. As for the rest of the cast, no one really stood out to me. One of the major problems seen consistently throughout the film was the horrible script written by Carlton Cuse (Lost, Bates Motel) and Andre Fabrizio (Vice, The Prince). Thankfully there were times that the horrible screenplay was forgotten, due to Dwayne’s charm.

Overall, San Andreas has proven to be time well spent at the movies. To truly enjoy this one, you simply have to make sure to turn off your brain, let go, and enjoy this disastrous wild ride.