7 / 10
San Andreas is a Dwayne Johnson disaster movie. That sentence describes most of what it is. Brad Peyton directed it. Johnson plays Ray Gaines, a Los Angeles Fire Department rescue pilot whose helicopter and skill set turn out to be exactly what’s needed when a magnitude nine earthquake destroys California. Carla Gugino plays his estranged wife. Alexandra Daddario plays his daughter, who’s in San Francisco when the quake hits. Paul Giamatti plays the seismologist who explains everything. Ioan Gruffudd plays the rich boyfriend who won’t survive the third act.
The plot is a string of escalating set pieces. The Hoover Dam fails. Los Angeles falls down. The Golden Gate Bridge takes a wave from a tsunami. Ray Gaines pilots, drives, swims, parachutes, and personally rescues every member of his family one at a time. The film isn’t interested in anything else. It doesn’t need to be. It knows what it is.
The Action
The set pieces are technically excellent. The CGI is well-rendered. The destruction has weight. Buildings collapse in sequences long enough that the audience can register the scale. The helicopter sequences, the parachute drop into AT&T Park, and the third-act tsunami are staged with enough geographic clarity that the audience always knows where Ray is and where his daughter is and how far apart they are.
The scientific commentary by Paul Giamatti’s character provides the disaster movie equivalent of a play-by-play announcer. He explains what’s about to happen. The film then shows it happening. The structure is satisfying in the way a video game tutorial is satisfying.
For Writers
A disaster film needs a character whose job it’s to explain. Paul Giamatti’s seismologist is a structural device, not a person. He delivers the information the audience needs. Disaster films that try to fold the exposition into the protagonist’s dialogue often produce stilted scenes. San Andreas accepts the role of the explainer as a job and gives it to a competent actor who treats it with appropriate gravity.
The lesson is that some structural roles are best filled by characters who exist primarily to serve them, as long as the actor playing them knows what the job is.
The Family
Ray and Emma are divorcing. Their other daughter died in a previous incident. They haven’t spoken much in months. The earthquake reunites them, both literally and emotionally. The family drama is functional but never strong, which is fine because the family drama isn’t why you’re watching.
The film is reasonably honest about this. The first ten minutes establish that Ray is a competent professional with personal regrets. The script doesn’t pretend he’s going to become a different person by the end. He just has to save his family. He saves them. He looks at his ex-wife. They get back together. The end.
For Writers
A simple character arc in a high-concept story is often the right call. San Andreas doesn’t give Ray Gaines a complex emotional journey. It gives him a clear obstacle and a clear goal. The arc is functional, not interesting, and the film doesn’t pretend otherwise. The lesson is that ambition in the wrong dimension can sink a story. If your concept is the appeal, don’t weigh it down with character work that doesn’t serve the concept. Get out of the way of the spectacle.
The Daughter Plot
Alexandra Daddario plays Blake, who’s trapped in San Francisco during the quake. She picks up two English brothers (Hugo Johnstone-Burt and Art Parkinson) and the three of them traverse the destroyed city looking for a way out and a way to contact her father. The subplot is the best-written part of the film. The trio actually have a small-scale survival story that works on its own terms.
The little brother, played by Art Parkinson, is a particular highlight. He gets the best emotional beats in the film. The film could have spent more time with this trio and less time on Ray flying various vehicles, and it would have been a better film for it.
For Writers
A subplot can be the best thing in a story even if the main plot is the marketed concept. San Andreas markets Dwayne Johnson rescuing his family. The actual best material is three young people walking through a destroyed San Francisco trying to survive. The lesson is to follow your story’s natural energy. If your subplot is working better than your main plot, that’s information. Either lean into the subplot or strengthen the main plot until they balance.
Craft Note
Brad Peyton directed. Carlton Cuse wrote the screenplay. Dwayne Johnson as Ray Gaines. Carla Gugino as Emma. Alexandra Daddario as Blake. Paul Giamatti as Lawrence. Ioan Gruffudd as Daniel. Hugo Johnstone-Burt and Art Parkinson as the English brothers. Approximately one hundred and ten million dollar budget. Four hundred and seventy-four million worldwide gross. Released May 2015. Warner Bros.
Is San Andreas worth watching?
7/10. A perfectly executed disaster film. It does what it sets out to do, which is destroy California while Dwayne Johnson flies a helicopter. The daughter subplot is the best material. The science is wrong. The action is right. Watch it for what it is.
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