A film that show what would happen if the biggest earthquake ever hit California
There is a new disaster movie coming out this Friday to a theater near you, and it is not as cheesy as it looks. The special effects are amazing, and what happens from start to finish is not a complete impossibility. It is of course blown out of proportion in true Hollywood style, but action fans will really like this new movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. It is a film that guys should definitely run out and see.
Chief Ray Gaines (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) is a hard working rescue helicopter pilot who has saved a lot of lives in his career, over 600 in fact. Ray spends his days out there saving people who get into dangerous situations, and looks like the perfect hero. But his life outside of work is falling apart. His daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario) is grown up and moving to college, and his wife Emma (Carla Gugino) has left him for another man and served him divorce papers. Ray and Blake have a good relationship, but his work does get in the way of things often.
They have plans together to hang out on a weekend, but when an earthquake hits Nevada and causes all kinds of devastation, duty calls and he has to be on his way. It is a strange occurrence because there are not supposed to be any stress points in Nevada, which means earthquakes should never occur there. But one did and things are bad there with lots of people needing to be helped and rescued.
Lawrence (Paul Giamatti) who is a professor at Cal tech in LA who specializes in these kinds of occurrences makes a startling discovery. What happened in Nevada is more than a simple earthquake. It turns out the San Andreas fault has decided to go off, and in a very big way. There is a disaster of biblical proportions heading for San Francisco, and there is nothing that is able to stop it.
When Ray gets news of this upcoming disaster, he takes his helicopter and will do everything he can to save and protect the people he loves. The film starts to rocket forward from here, with the populace not prepared for what is coming their way, and no one sure of what is going to happen next. Why is the San Andreas fault going off like this? Just how bad is the devastation going to be? And how far will Ray have to go to save as many people as he can?
The film has a good cast and the special effects are just astounding. There is fear from the trailers that this will be another cheesy disaster film that is completely unrealistic bu thankfully this is not the case. Although the devastation is on such a huge scale, somehow it all stays in the realm of reality. Everything that happens makes sense, and there are no moments when people will roll their eyes or get annoyed by what is happening in each scene. There are a few cheesy lines, but they are not abundant.
The best thing going for this film is the character Ray. He is a brave man and one who is truly selfless. He wants to do everything he can to save the scared masses and make sure as many of them get through this catastrophe in one piece. He is also an amazing father, and will honestly do anything to make sure his family is okay, even if sometimes it seems like he is no longer a part of it. He is a great example of what a man should be, and so many men can learn so much from this character. One of Dwayne’s best roles in years.
The film has its predictable moments, and because of this gets 5/10. It is a film that many people will enjoy, but it is not a must see movie. Kids should not see it, and to many theatergoers it will come off as over the top and could annoy them. Don’t get me wrong it is a good film, but not one made for everybody.
If you are a fan of disaster movies, this is a film you will want to see. If you are looking for a simple film with lots of action here is the movie you will want to pick. It is a film that breaks the mold of most disaster movies, but just doesn’t have enough new things going on to interest most people this summer.
Check out the teaser here: