San Andreas

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Paul Giamatti and Ioan Gruffudd

Director: Brad Peyton

Release Date: 2015

Running Time: 1hr 54 minutes

Genre: Action

Rating: 12

Format: Amazon Prime UK

Synopsis:

When a catastrophic earthquake hits California, a rescue pilot embarks on a dangerous journey with his ex-wife across state in order to save his daughter.

Disaster movies over the years have come to be very popular with the likes of "The Day after Tomorrow" and the recent "Geostorm", however when it comes to disaster films, San Andreas isn't necessarily that non-naturalistic. There have been five major earthquakes on the San Andreas fault in the past 300 years or so. Although the magnitude for an earthquake on this level is practically impossible, some of the components to this film are very realistic. Rescue pilot Raymond Gaines learns that his daughter is in San Francisco when a catastrophic earthquake hits California, creating a magnitude of aftershocks, destroying everything in it's path, after rescuing his wife he sets off in search of his daughter to be reunited.

The problem with disaster movies is finding the perfect balance of realism and extravaganza. Unfortunately too many directors focus on the latter. Sadly, the problem with the storyline is the poor excuse for character development. You can practically feel yourself predicting what's going to happen next, moments that are so silly it's embarrassing. Starring Dwayne Johnson as Raymond Gaines, a rescue pilot who finds himself in the heart of the quake when he attempts to save his daughter. Dwayne delivers a good performance, his characterisation is very genuine and believable, hurt at the idea of his wife moving in with another man, his friendship with her is very strained.

Emma Gaines is played by the ever so beautiful Carla Gugino. Emma is now living with rich and selfish architect Daniel Riddick (Gruffudd) who has taken Emma's daughter Blake under his wing, taking her to San Francisco, whilst he's on a business trip. Gruffudd's character is your typical selfish bad guy who puts himself before others, a very different turn of role for Ioan who is normally well known for playing the good guy. Sadly Gruffudd's character Daniel doesn't offer a lot to the movie, there wasn't a greal deal of depth to his character, Gruffudd failing miserably to deliver a little bit of characterisation to his role.

Seismologist Dr Lawrence Hayes tried to convince California a long time ago that earthquakes were going to get more and more frequent. Hayes is performed terrifically by sensation Paul Giamatti. Sadly, one of the only actors throughout the entire movie to generally show emotion in his face and deliver a very heartfelt and genuine performance. Hayes knows when and where the aftershocks are going to hit and does everything he can to warn those outside of California. Although the acting in the film isn't spectacular, it's the storyline that really lets the movie down, it's very predictable and for the most part cliched.

The special effects are dramatically over the top, however they don't really create a thrilling atmosphere on screen. One of the things that was miraculously impressive about the story was the fact that all of the actors did their own stunts, that really is Dwayne Johnson you can see dangling from a helicopter during the opening shot. It's a shame that the special effects looked so poor considering the strengths the cinematography was able to create. Stunning shots of the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Nevada. Unfortunately the special effects too, became too predictable, leaving no space for surprise.

Director Brad Peyton really had the potential to make this film a deep thriller, sadly it ended up looking like a cheesy B movie.

3/5 stars