San Andreas

It's actually awful bollocks, but Dwayne Johnson is a likeable guy, Carla Gugino and Alexandra Daddario are very nice to look at, and there's always something going on. Sometimes that's all I need. (29/08/2015)

Nobody expected a revolutionary cliché-free contribution to the genre, not even from Warner Bros. The same goes for Emmerichian wit and insight. The characters are fine, unlike those in last year’s Into the Storm, and better than those in Poseidon. So, overall it’s an alright movie, a display of decent craft without errors and surprises. (27/05/2015)

The Rock acts (and is likeable) about as well as Sylvester Stallone in the 1990s, but back then, Stallone wouldn't have acted in a film this silly. One cliché after another, and it relies on amazing the viewer with effects, which are not overwhelming, and pretty soon they get old, and it takes itself almost deadly seriously. Perspective is desperately missing - the comedy string that Roland Emmerich can play so well (I was very entertained by 2012, and it’s not much more sophisticated in terms of the storyline) did not even tremble in San Andreas. Unlike me while watching Alexandra Daddario... (05/01/2019)

The Americans tend to shoot a disaster movie once in a while, cry their eyes out and show Americanism in its harshest form. And they usually take down Los Angeles or San Francisco. It lies on two tectonic plates, so it’s strongly fitting for a similar movie. For many decades now. Fortunately, San Andreas doesn’t deviate from the standard and performs solid popcorn entertainment, which is supported by Hulk Dwayne and solid CGI. It’s almost a surprise that a similarly tuned movie wasn’t made by Emmerich, but by the talented Peyton instead, because he massacred the surroundings very well. (05/07/2016)

San Andreas could be ranked alongside Roland Emmerich's disaster movies like 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow, and it certainly wouldn't put itself to shame. Within its genre, it is a solid piece of work that is average in many ways, but that's the way it goes with films like this. The film is duly laced with action and decent visual effects depicting overwhelming destruction, and as far as the cast is concerned, they are universally likeable. In short, an enjoyable flick that looks good and doesn't require much thought. (20/03/2016)