Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino Resist Getting Toppled in 'San Andreas' (Review)

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson seems like the coolest guy, like if he crashes at your place after an awesome night out, he'd sneak out to get coffee for you before you get up. While curating a charming, non-jerky offscreen persona, he's been excelling at being a major added value to existing franchises like the Fast and Furious series and even the Journey to the Center of the Earth films. San Andreas is Johnson's first major blockbuster effort as a "by himself" star, as the marketing focused solely on him.

San Andreas also stars one of my faves Carla Gugino (Watchmen), Alexandra Daddario (True Detective), Paul Giamatti, Hugo Johnstone-Burt (Teen Wolf), Art Parkinson (Game of Thrones), Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife) and Ioan Gruffudd (Forever).  San Andreas is directed by Brad Peyton who previously directed Johnson in Journey to the Center of the Earth: The Mysterious Island. The film is written by Carlton Cuse, known for his work on the TV show Lost.

Ray Gaines (Johnson) is an ace helicopter rescuer for the LAFD, struggling to accept his divorce from Emma (Gugino) and the effects it will have on his relationship to his daughter Blake (Daddario). Meanwhile, seismologist Dr. Laurence Hayes is studying the San Andreas fault and the likelihood of a major earthquake that will endanger the lives of West Coast residents.  When Emma and Blake get caught in the earthquake, it's up to Ray to save them.

Let's get one major problem out of the way. Considering this movie takes great effort to paint Ray as this amazing rescue guy, it is extremely hard to watch him abandon his job to save his family. I get it, he loves his daughter and he's obviously pining for Emma. But considering how this movie overplays how dangerous this earthquake is, it's a little distressing to see him all-too-quickly decide who needs him most. This is especially true since neither Emma nor Blake are damsels in distress types. They're both resourceful and smart enough to take care of themselves, so why does Ray need to go out of his way to rescue them?

If this were a character choice, that'd be fine. I would have loved to see a professional struggle with this choice. I would have loved to see the fallout from his actions. But the film wants to lionize Ray and so his decision to save his family is treated like THE ONLY THING HE CAN DO. I understand that he's not the only rescue guy around but he is the only one the movie follows. Some more complexity would have been appreciated.

Once I realized that I was stuck with this story, I was able to sit back and just enjoy this movie on a surface level. It hits all the typical beats for a disaster flick (worried scientists, people getting trapped, destruction, buildings just falling). If you like disaster movies, then you will enjoy this movie. It's decent and I'm sure I'll enjoy it on FX in a year and a half. There isn't much to separate it from others of the genre but San Andreas is entertaining enough.

I liked the relationship between Ray, Emma and Blake. Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino have a solid chemistry even if the script does that dumb thing where people take time during crisis to talk about their feelings. I also think their whole relationship is an overplayed cliche but the acting makes it believable. Alexandra Daddario is quite good as the tough daughter Blake. I liked that she wasn't some shrilly helpless girl but one who is smart enough to assess the situation and make a plan. Her camaraderie with the two British brothers (Johnstone-Burt and Parkinson) is great and cute.

Paul Giamatti and Archie Panjabi are weird onscreen together but at least they don't become romantically involved. They get the most thankless roles of being exposition characters so they don't get much room to play around. But at least they're charismatic enough onscreen to make it watchable. Ioan Grufudd is terrible, like he forgot how acting works.

The special effects in this film are expectedly spectacular. San Andreas delivers on its promise of portraying the earthquake's takedown of San Francisco and LA. The movie features a stunning long take featuring Carla Gugino at a restaurant early in the film and that's probably its peak in terms of filmmaking. There isn't much creativity on display; this is standard-issue blockbuster filmmaking. I think that Peyton, whose other feature film credit is Cats and Dog: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, keeps the film just exciting enough to please audiences but I wonder if he'll ever really push himself.

San Andreas is a crowd-pleaser for those who like disaster movies and for fans of Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino. I liked the film, though I can't recommend it without some reservations. The script takes some unfortunate turns and the movie's visuals are typically grandiose but not inventive enough to stand separate from the likes of 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow. If the film works, it's because of its cast. This film is making a solid amount of money ($119 million worldwide so far). Thankfully the budget--probably around $115 million--isn't gargantuan so it doesn't have to gross more than its potential to turn a profit.

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