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The best disaster movies have huge ensemble casts, making sure that everyone in the audience has someone they can relate to and latch on to during the film’s duration. San Andreas, the latest hit in Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s movie career, dispenses with that. After all, who doesn’t relate to The Rock?
In San Andreas, Johnson stars as Ray, a Los Angeles Fire Department rescue pilot. He just received divorce papers from his wife, Emma (Carla Gugino), and was really looking forward to spending time with his daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario, who is only 14 years younger than The Rock in reality). But Emma’s new boyfriend Daniel (Ioan Gruffudd) decides to take Blake with him to San Francisco.
Meanwhile, Dr. Lawrence Hayes (Paul Giamatti) knows the San Andreas Fault is about to explode. Once that starts, Ray has to save his family... because family is all that matters, even to the rescue specialist whose skills could be used to save hundreds of people. But, The Rock must save his family and get back the love of his wife in the process. Oh, he also lost a daughter in a rafting accident, so that gives him extra motivation for trying to save Blake.
Directed by Brad Peyton, San Andreas at least succeeds in only being what it wants to be. That is, a big dumb disaster movie where the audience gets to cheer every time Johnson does something insanely heroic. Millions of people die as the Hoover Dam, San Francisco and Los Angeles are destroyed, but again, the focus of the film is on Ray saving his family at all costs. Hayes might pop in every now and then to remind us of the big, dangerous earthquake, but Peyton and writer Carlton Cuse (yeah, the guy behind Lost) don’t really care much.
The film hit Blu-ray last week. While the list of extras makes it look like there’s some fascinating material, everything runs under 10 minutes. Even the bit about actual earthquakes runs only six minutes. Other features include Johnson talking about playing a rescue pilot, a blurb about the score, four minutes of deleted scenes and gag and stunt reels. Peyton also provides a commentary.
San Andreas only works if you shut your brain off for two hours. If you think about it for about one second, the whole movie might come crumbling down like those buildings. You could even take it as a really expensive Planes, Trains and Automobiles remake (although, The Rock is too cool for trains). The Blu-ray is recommended for anyone who really wants to test the limits of their home theater system.