By Geno McGahee
Pro wrestlers do not typically make a good transition into acting. The pro-wrestling brand of acting is not necessarily good acting and that it part of the charm, but when it comes to something dramatic, they don’t do well. Roddy Piper was in a great movie called “THEY LIVE,” but he wasn’t a very good actor. Hulk Hogan is a notoriously terrible actor and John Cena isn’t much better. There is one grappler that has made the transition very well into Hollywood is “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson. He has worked on the craft and brings versatility, capable of doing any genre. In the 2015 disaster movie “SAN ANDREAS”, we see the various elements that the Rock brings to the game and he does each one of them well and I think that the producers understood that. I’m sure that they cast the Rock for this role without much thought and may have even written it for him.
Raymond Gaines (The Rock) is a firefighter that specializes in difficult rescues. When Natalie (Morgan Griffin) drives off a cliff as an earthquake hits, Gaines uses his courage and skills to save her. Unfortunately, he cannot save his marriage and is served with divorce papers from his wife, Emma (Carla Gugino), and it bugged me immediately. No, not that they were getting divorced. That’s part of life. I kept wondering where the hell I knew Carla Gugino from. At the very end of the film, it hit me buuuuuuuuudy. She was in SON IN LAW with Pauly Shore. She’s grown up and held up incredibly well and now she’s getting the big roles that are even better than her spot in SON IN LAW, but it would have been better with a cameo from Shore. He could have been working on the farm still and the quakes hits and she could say “I think I knew him,” as they fly by and watch the earth eat him up. Can you say SAN ANDREAS 2?
As in every disaster movie, we have scientists…or, in this case, quake experts, like Dr. Hayes, played by the amazing Paul Giamatti. He and his buddy have figured out how to predict earthquakes but have overlooked a fault line in Nevada. It gets hit with a major quake and now the picture is clear. The quake is going to hit California in a big way, creating all sorts of problems.
In the meantime, Blake (Alexandra Daddario), is bonding with her new dad to be, Daniel (Ioan Gruffudd). He seems nice. He’s rich and erects buildings and even opens up to her a little, noting that he was always too busy to have kids. He seemed like a cool dude, but he flips the script rather quickly. When they arrive at his monster office building, Blake meets up with Ben Taylor (Hugo Johnstone-Burt), who is there for an interview. He sounded a lot like Tucker from THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY. I’m not sure if his accent is legitimate or not, but it sounded fake…either that or Tucker’s sounded real. I’m confused.
Since Ben can’t close the show, his younger brother, Ollie (Art Parkinson), gets her number and hopes that he can help his older brother to score. All disaster movies include kids, but this film does it right. Ollie is courageous but he still acts like a kid…unlike those disaster movies from the seventies where the kids are basically fearless and save the day. So, points to SAN ANDREAS for keeping it real. You kept it real, SAN ANDREAS. You kept it real my brother.
As Daniel and Blake exit the building in his limo, the quake hits and they get stuck in a parking garage. Her legs are pinned against the seat and she is stuck there with the dead limo driver. Daniel says he’s going to get help and basically hauls ass out of there. That’s not cool buuuuuuuudy. As he runs away, Ben and Ollie rescue her and team up to get to safety. The Rock is busy saving his wife as she scales a collapsing building. As they attempt to fly to safety, Emma discovers that Daniel left her daughter to die. Well, she’s done with him now and it made room for The Rock to get back into his family again. The disaster gives them time to work it out and discuss the death of another daughter that neither had recovered from. This is where The Rock shines again. His dramatic delivery shows the layered character that is tough and struggling to show emotion. Gugino does very well here as well and also brings a level of toughness and softness to the part. They had a great cast here.
To make Daniel even that much more of a prick, in case you forgave him for leaving Blake to die, he throws a poor guy into the path of a building collapse to save himself. It was absolutely hilarious. I was waiting for him to tip over baby carriages and burn down nursing homes. They would have done that had they not been satisfied that they established him as a villain. Emma, next time pick your men better. Your grandfather was right when he told you “it really tweaks my melon, to see a buff bro like the Rock here, get weezed on by a greasy scumbag like Daniel.”
SAN ANDREAS turns into your typical disaster movies with CGI up the ass, but it’s not terrible. In this day and age, CGI is the way to go. It has put model makers out of business around the world. I do hear a lot of complaints about CGI, but it’s better than Claymation, in my opinion. Claymation was terrible for live action special effects, but it was ideal to present the California raisons.
I recommend SAN ANDREAS. It’s not great, but the cast is strong and performances were rather good. They took the basic formula, added a few more elements and went forward and it made money, turning a 50 million dollar profit. This was directed by Brad Peyton. He worked with The Rock on JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND and also directed CATS & DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE, an all time classic…more or less. Probably less.
Rating: 7/10