San Andreas

 SAN ANDREAS

Director : Brad Peyton

Year : 2015

Genre : Action

Rating : ***1/2

 

Following on in the tradition of the big-budget Roland Emmerich pictures of the 1990's and 2000's, 'San Andreas' is a hugely entertaining, if not more than generic disaster movie from director Brad Peyton. Starring Dwayne Johnson as an LA helicopter pilot who embarks on a death-defying mission to rescue his daughter (Alexandra Daddario) from an Earthquake-stricken San Francisco, 'San Andreas' wastes no time in giving its audience scenes of cataclysmic chaos and untold panic in set pieces reminiscent of '2012' and especially 'The Day After Tomorrow'.  First the Hoover Dam is destroyed and then before you know it, the entire infrastructure of California state is reduced to rubble, dust and fire; all bought to the screen thanks to some pretty astonishing special effects. Johnson, as always, provides a good central lead full of charisma and bravery while the terrific Paul Giamatti delivers a stand-out performance as a seismologist desperate to warn the people of the city about the impending apocalypse. It's not at all scientifically realistic and as is expected, the critics haven't been very kind to it but if you like disaster movies as much as I do, then you are going to find 'San Andreas' fun, thrilling and incredibly predictable.