BWW Reviews: SAN ANDREAS Shakes, Rattles, Sputters

Let's start with a quick lesson in seismology: The SAN ANDREAS fault lies between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates and, more importantly, through the union's most populous state, California. Tectonic plates are those things that occasionally shift and make the ground go all wobbly beneath your feet. So, at least until the big one finally hits, the SAN ANDREAS fault will remain on the "Wheel of Natural Disasters" (somewhere between a volcano and a meteor) to be picked every few years by a new filmmaker who will quickly realize there are only so many ways to topple a skyscraper. The filmmaker in this case is Brad Peyton, and his film is SAN ANDREAS.

SAN ANDREAS centers around the similarly fractured Gaines family. Ray Gaines (Dwayne Johnson) is a successful LAFD search and rescue helicopter pilot with over 600 career rescues to his name. When an earthquake strikes Nevada, he is forced to cancel his plans to take his daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario) to San Francisco, and he is doubly dismayed when Daniel (Ioan Gruffudd), the wealthy boyfriend of his estranged wife Emma (Carla Gugino), offers to take her instead. Meanwhile, Dr. Lawrence Hayes (Paul Giamatti), a professor at Caltech, discovers a way to predict earthquakes and, with the help of a local reporter named SERENA (Archie Panjabi), attempts to warn the citizens of California that their nightmare is just beginning.

As earthquakes rock California with increasing severity, Ray and Emma travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco on a mission to save Blake, who in turn is trying to lead her jittery British love interest Ben (Hugo Johnstone-Burt) and his precocious little brother Ollie (Art Parkinson) to safety.

Not surprisingly, the film's greatest weakness is its screenplay. Surprising is that it was written by Carlton Cuse, from a story by Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore. There are questions of character motivation. Why would Ben take his little brother to his super important, nerve-wracking job interview instead of leaving him at the hotel? Why would he drag that same little brother into a deadly situation for a girl he had known all of five minutes? A girl, by the way, that he can't even be sure is Blake. And there are moments that are merely anti-climatic, like when Johnson and Gugino survive a plane crash to find that fuel is soaking their clothes. Luckily, they've crashed into the apparel section of a department store. Crisis averted, so fast you're left wondering why the scene was there at all.

Though Johnson turns in an outstanding performance, hitting the emotional notes perfectly, these scenes slow down an already predictable and dull script. Daddario plays plucky, knowledgeable and self-sufficient well; there's no doubt Blake is very much her father's daughter. But Cuse only half-heartedly allows Blake to be heroic, never letting her reach her full potential as a character. Similarly, Gruffudd receives so little screen time that he is ultimately stifled as the film's villain.

Giamatti and Panjabi, arguably the film's two best actors, are given the least to do, and spend the majority of the film holed up in Caltech issuing warnings and hiding under tables. The treatment of Panjabi's character is most egregious; despite being introduced in the film's second scene, she is not given a name until the last third.

In general, the film would have benefited greatly from, as they say, "crossing the streams" and bringing the characters together. The film would be less flat if Cuse had found a way to get Giamatti out of his office, and given Panjabi room to be the intrepid reporter we think she'll be at the start of the film, and put Johnson to work rescuing people other than his wife and daughter.

If you're the kind of person who never tires of watching the Hollywood sign crumble and major American cities flood, go see this film. For all of it's flaws, it's a solid disaster movie, and the special effects deserve to be seen on the big screen. But it's not one you'll find yourself re-watching on a lazy Sunday.

SAN ANDREAS starring Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Ioan Gruffudd, Archie Panjabi, Hugo Johnstone-Burt, Art Parkinson, and Paul Giamatti is rated PG-13 for intense disaster action and mayhem throughout, and brief strong language.

Photo Credit: Jasin Boland/Warner Bros. Pictures

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