San Andreas (2015), PG-13, ★★★

The Rock as the next "Charlton Heston of disaster movies".

Let's ask myself one question: "Am I a sucker for disaster movies?" I'd respond, "Not really." However, one disaster movie will take place every year. Last year, we had a cartoonish and stupid disaster film, Into the Storm, which had dumb characters who had no idea what they are saying and what they are doing. But, yes, this genre of disaster films is a category of entertainment and guilty pleasures and I am still waiting an accurate and masterful disaster film. My favorite is The Towering Inferno, with Independence Day pretty close. And, there are three categories of disaster films: good disaster films, guilty pleasure films and bad disaster movies. San Andreas falls in the middle between good and guilty pleasure and that's enough of a recommendation due to a few strong performances at the core of the film.

Chief Ray Gaines (Dwayne Johnson) is a Los Angeles Fire Department rescue-helicopter pilot who is recently divorced and wants to spend time with his daughter, Blake (Alexandra Daddario), on his day off. However, she tells him that she is going to spend time with her mom and his ex-wife, Emma (Carla Gugino) and her new boyfriend, Daniel (Ioan Grufudd). He receives an envelope with divorce papers inside and goes to Blake's old room and sees a photograph with Blake, Ray and her other daughter, Mallory, who unfortunately died tragically in a rafting accident.

Meanwhile, Dr. Lawrence Hayes (Paul Giamatti) and his associate and colleague, Dr. Kim Park (Will Yun Lee) is discussing some seismic activity nearby as they both go the Hoover Dam and record and observe the seismic activity. Kim notices a bigger quake happening as the ground begins to violently tremble and the Dam starts to crack and burst. Emma is having lunch in Los Angeles, after she, Blake and Daniel flew there and as she talk to Ray on the phone, a huge quakes starts to hit, rocking the building. And from Ray's point of view, he sees a highway collapse and Ray tells her to get to the roof and he rescues her as the entire building falls down. Blake is trapped with with a British guy named Ben (Hugo Johnstone-Burt) and his younger brother, Ollie (Art Parkinson). Ray vows to rescue his only daughter.

The young ones are in peril.

If I were to rank this against movies in general this year, this movie would be ok and average at best, better than most movies in this disappointing year so far. But, against the genre of disaster movies and there are a lot, this is a solid piece of filmmaking extravaganza where a director just plays with a city again and gets it destroyed. It is not a masterpiece because of the predictable and cheesy lines of "Oh, my God!" and "Oh, s**t!" and also the plot is very simplistic revolving around the disastrous quake as a father wants to redeem himself of rescuing his daughter and not many people around him. He's a talented helicopter-pilot, so what the heck, man?

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is capable of having that gravitas of capturing a normal and hard-working helicopter rescue pilot as he does his duty. He's fine, but I wish that there were more of his heroics and behind the scenes of his company than just chewing it up and focusing on only his family. Speaking of which, Carla Gugino and Alexandra Daddario provide some depth and power as they have something to do instead of just crying and standing while The Rock does his thing. So, that's new. Thank God, Paul Giamatti had to explain to us what is going on regarding the earthquake he provides commentary on what is going on or what is going to happen in the movie. The movie would have been better if it were about him and his colleagues working. But, we had a little bit of that work environment in The Day After Tomorrow.

Based on the visual effects and sense of destructive artistry, it is a fantastic film of style and visual spectacle. However, we need to have characters and plot and based on them, except for Paul Giamatti, they are all a bit one-note. And, about all of the disaster movies, they have one-note characters. I have to admit I had just enough fun to enjoy the film and I recommend this movie enough as summer popcorn flick and reaches it at that B-movie level. I'd say, suspend your disbelief, munch on some popcorn and enjoy the movie for what it is and throw logic out the window.

***