Film: San Andreas
Director: Brad Peyton
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario
In one Eureka moment while watching San Andreas , I understood why I loved that last scene of Fight Club so much. There’s something beautiful about buildings being razed, something darkly enchanting about giant structures crumbling into rubble. Regardless of how breathtaking it is to behold such a visual, it’s dreadfully sad to have people running around in mortal fear, even if sometimes, it has to take a catastrophe for people to remember that which is important in their lives.
This is a movie that’s perfect for Dwayne Johnson. His character Raymond works for the LA Fire and Rescue Department and goes about, like a superhero, rescuing people from dangerous crevices for a hobby. The main story of San Andreas is nothing new and seems like a rip-off of 2012. A separated man seeks familial redemption and has to save his daughter in the backdrop of a disaster. While 2012 at least tried to show the new husband of the protagonist’s separated wife as a decent man, San Andreas lazily portrays Raymond’s rival, the high-flying architect Daniel Riddick, as a coward. The character I really wanted to see more of was Lawrence Hayes (the underrated Paul Giamatti), a seismology researcher at Caltech. While Lawrence tries to save people at the cost of personal loss, Raymond’s only concern seems to be his family. He’s happily flying around in his government-sponsored helicopter, looking out for his family, despite thousands running for dear life. Not quite hero material. For a disaster flick, there’s a surprising amount of depth in the relationship between Ray Gaines and his wife, Emma (Carla Gugino).
The trauma in their past makes it all so much more meaningful, and lends so much urgency to Ray’s rescue mission of his daughter. It isn’t just her he’s rescuing, it’s also himself. What a lovely idea — a man with the most number of successful rescue missions now has to rescue… himself.
But perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of San Andreas was how it didn’t over-reach. The destruction, while being colossal, is limited to a region. The world isn’t ending in this one, and I was happy for that.
Sudhir Srinivasan
