FILM REVIEW: 'San Andreas' Shakes Plenty But Doesn't Stir Much - East Idaho News
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FILM REVIEW: ‘San Andreas’ Shakes Plenty But Doesn’t Stir Much

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There’s a whole lot of shaking going on in “San Andreas”. The ground quakes. High-rise buildings sway. The earth jiggles so much in this movie, it’s surprising it doesn’t feature product placement for Jell-O. The film’s heroes are in almost constant peril. Unfortunately, “San Andreas” fails to stir the emotions or provide anything more the empty entertainment calories.

“San Andreas” stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Ray Gaines, a rescue pilot with more than 600 rescues on his resume. The opening scene shows Ray doing his stuff, establishing his awesomeness. Meanwhile, Lawrence (Paul Giamatti) and his team of scientists rush to get the word out that they can predict when earthquakes will hit and that the San Andreas Fault is about to go off, big time.

The rest of “San Andreas” involves Ray trying to reunite with his wife, Emma (Carla Gugino) and daughter, Blake (Alexandra Daddario) in the midst of the most epic earthquake ever recorded in U.S. History.

The destructive scenes in “San Andreas” are pretty impressive. Director Brad Peyton puts us in the middle of the action. One scene set in a hotel is especially effective at portraying the chaos and disorienting fear that takes hold during a quake. There are plenty of “holy crap” moments where you stare in sheer awe of the devastation playing out on the screen. That’s not where this movie falls down.

“San Andreas”’s biggest fault (get it?) is that it’s severely under-written. We’re not given enough information to really get to know our heroes. There’s no bond created, no emotional investment, and that means it’s hard to care whether Ray saves the day or not. Ollie (Art Parkinson), a little British kid who befriends Blake and joins her in her trek to find Ray, is a pretty fun character. That’s because he’s the only character in the entire cast who has anything approaching a sense of humor. And Mr. Giamatti is good as Lawrence because, hey, he’s Paul Giamatti.

Director Peyton seems to be drawing directly from the Roland “Independence Day” Emmerich disaster movie playbook. Let’s see, here… Big cast? Check! Little character development? Check! Clunky Writing? Check! Lots and lots of destroyed American landmarks? Check, check, check! Peyton also channels Emmerich’s complete lack of originality and his penchant for placing visual spectacle ahead of everything else. In fact, this movie feels so much like the latest Emmerich disaster-palooza, it’s a little hard to believe he didn’t direct it.

“San Andreas” is a visually epic tale of catastrophe and the power of family love. It features numerous breath-taking scenes of destruction. It’s worth seeing once on the big screen just to experience the scale of the quake. Problem is, that’s all this movie has to offer. The characters are an afterthought and, at times, even seem to get in the way of the action sequences. “San Andreas” ain’t bad, but it would’ve been such a better movie had the filmmakers given it even a little emotional depth. As it stands, “San Andreas” is a perfectly functional popcorn flick that will shake you up, but won’t stir your emotions.

MPAA Rating: PG-13

2 ½ Indy Fedoras out of 5

Thanks to Fat Cats in Rexburg for providing screenings for movie reviews on EastIdahoNews.com.

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