San Andreas

San Andreas – When the San Andreas fault suddenly and unexpectedly causes numerous earthquakes across California, the devastation claims thousands of lives. Rescue helicopter pilot, Ray Gaines, has to use all his skills in order to find his ex-wife in one city and his daughter in another but will he be able to save them both? 

San Andreas (2015) – Director: Brad Peyton

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44674645

Rating: 12

Running Length: 114 mins

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario

Genre: Disaster

REVIEW: SAN ANDREAS

Disaster movies follow a certain path that is difficult to move away from. With so much focus on special effects, the scientists who have been ignored until it’s too late, a small but concentrated central plot of rescuing loved ones and the symbolic unfurling and flying of the American flag, there is little room for anything else. San Andreas unashamedly makes no attempt to do anything different, it simply revels in doing what it’s good at. Everyone’s favourite ex-wrestler, Dwayne Johnson, is the likeable and reasonable (as always) lead, Ray, who is struggling with issues in his private life. He and his equally likeable and reasonable ex-wife, Emma (Carla Gugino), make a solid foundation for the rest of the carnage to swirl around.

The other side of the plot involves Ray and Emma’s daughter, Blake (Alexandra Daddario), and new friends, Ben and Ollie (Hugo Johnstone-Burt and Art Parkinson), two very respectful Brits, as they race through San Francisco, attempting to reach ‘higher ground’ and are forced to be resourceful as their options become increasingly smaller. While many disaster movies focus on a single setting, San Andreas chooses two major cities to feel the brunt of the earthquakes, presumably to increase the level of devastation. With so many buildings being rattled, destroyed and felled, the action could become a little tedious, however cutting between the action and a calmer plotline between Ray and Emma offsets everything nicely.

‘San Andreas’ is undoubtedly an impressive spectacle and its likeable (but slightly bland) characters up the stakes well. Whether it is for you really depends on your opinions of disaster movies as ‘San Andreas’ does pull any punches!

CONTENT: IS ‘SAN ANDREAS’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

A young woman drives along a narrow mountain road and sporadically looks at her phone as she drives by other vehicles. Rocks begin to fall down onto the car causing her to crash over the side of the cliff. The entire fall is seen as the car smashes against rocks and falls, the woman is also seen in distress as the car crashes. The car lands heavily head first, throwing the woman backwards. She is dazed and has a few cuts on her arm, she realises that the car is hanging precariously and could fall at any moment. A rescue crew arrives to help and there is an exciting rescue attempt.

A huge structure is hit by an earthquake and an established character is in danger. He rushes to safety but sees a young girl hiding in fear. He stops to rescue her and carries her as he runs. When the ground beneath him suddenly shifts, he throws the girl to a friend nearby but is trapped by his foot being impaled on a metal rod. He realises he has no time to escape and tells the girl to close her eyes before the structure completely collapses and is washed away.

Ray and Emma had a daughter who drowned in an accident. Her death is mentioned several times throughout the movie and has obviously had a profound effect on them.

When the earthquakes start properly, there is a lot of panicking and people get hit or crushed by falling debris. A character runs through a door which closes and quickly opened by a friend who sees that this part of the building has now completely collapsed and is open to the air. She sees a man clinging to a metal rod, screaming in distress; after a few seconds he falls to his death.

A man sees a building about to collapse and looks around to see another man taking cover. The first man grabs the other and throws him out into the street in order to take his place, the second man is then killed by debris.

There is some injury detail seen throughout, the side of a woman’s head has blood on it, however she suffers no lasting effects and the injury is mostly covered by her hair. There is a brief shot of an unconscious man with a bloody head wound who is being cradled by a woman. A character cries out in pain when they get a glass shard in their leg, shortly afterwards it is removed off-screen. This injury is shown in close-up for a few seconds.

A tsunami caused by the earthquakes kills hundreds (or possibly thousands) of people, an elderly couple are seen in distress and embrace as a large ship hurtles towards them. Nothing graphic is shown.

An established character gets trapped underwater and falls unconscious before convulsing due to drowning. They are taken out of the water and a loved one begins CPR. however they do not respond and everyone around them becomes distressed, especially one who sobs openly. The CPR is stopped briefly before being resumed by someone who is unable to give up.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘SAN ANDREAS’ FOR KIDS?

‘San Andreas’ gives you all the disaster you could possibly want from a disaster movie and the always watchable Dwayne Johnson does what he does best. Due to the scale of the devastation and intense scenes of earthquakes which could be frightening and upsetting for young kids, we feel this movie is appropriate for kids aged 8 and over.

• Violence: 3/5 (lots of implied death from the earthquakes and tsunami. a few incidental characters are shown to be killed by falling from heights and debris but nothing too graphic is shown. A character gets another killed by cowardice)
• Emotional Distress: 2/5 (a character becomes distressed and says ‘Blake’s going to die, isn’t she?’)
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (the sheer scale of the destruction could be upsetting for some)
• Sexual Content: 0/5
• Bad Language: 3/5 (infrequent mild and moderate cursing. A strong word is used twice)
• Dialogue: 0/5
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of natural disasters, grief, divorce, cowardice, having confidence in your abilities and trusting the right people.

Words by Laura Record

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