The disaster genre isn't a high-brow affair, with films opting for exciting destruction in lieu of compelling characters and dialogue. At one point during San Andreas, a character describes another character as "cute, not bright"; that is an apt description of these films, SA included. It's predictability and dumbness are earth-shattering, so clearly it could be a better film. However, with fun 90's-era action set-pieces bolstered by state-of-the-art effects, San Andreas just plain works in spite of itself. With corny, melodramatic emotional beats drowning in giant and impressive action scenes, this skillfully made cookie-cutter flick is easy to enjoy. Story is not its strong suit; sloppy coincidences and "get outta there!"-type dialogue abound. What you do need to know is that it's also full of buildings falling, big things breaking, and beautiful people screaming as they try to survive the most epic earthquake in history. Utilizing some great faux-long takes and a sure-hand with the CGI, we are given some truly exciting and unique thrills. The cast does a commendable job heightening their performances to the eye-rolling cheese in the material, managing to get us just emotionally invested enough. Johnson is a pure movie star, Daddario is pleasantly unshrill, and I'll never tire of Giamatti. Most impressive is its ability to remain appropriately somber as we celebrate the triumphs. The immense amount of faceless death is anchored by the movie being so concerned with helping others. Sure, it's done with some not-so-thinly-veiled 9/11 allusions, but those negatives are mostly harmless and even noble within the extraordinary annihilation. Like a tsunami of tension, San Andreas is a big, dumb fun.
Review of San Andreas
