This epic disaster film is certainly in the running to be the greatest earthquake film ever.  In terms of destruction, I think it is; the Hoover Dam, most of Los Angeles and all of San Francisco come crashing, burning or flooding down.  When I left the theater I was convinced that San Andreas was the best earthquake movie ever.  But now I’m not so sure, and I’m going to discuss why my mind has changed.

Only three personal stories are covered in Brad Peyton’s film, and two of those are related by blood.  Rescue pilot Dwayne Johnson happens to be flying over Los Angeles when the ground begins to shake, so he rescues his sexy soon-to-be-ex-wife Carla Gugino. Their hot daughter Alexandra Daddario is in San Francisco when it starts to fall and she becomes trapped, only to be saved by two brothers — that’s the second.  The third and final personal story involves seismologist Paul Giamatti, whose efforts come in time to warn people about the catastrophe about to hit San Francisco.  But that’s it.  The film focuses on these characters and the two brothers almost exclusively rather than deliver the traditional overview of catastrophe.  That’s fine, and the drama is convincing, but ultimately the film suffers from not having more scope and context.

There has never been a great earthquake film.  We’re still waiting.  But Earthquake  (1974) is like the Old Faithful of disaster films.  It certainly isn’t great but it has absolutely everything that a great earthquake movie will need, starting with a slew of varied vignettes of comfortable characters impacted by a California shake and bake. That film personalizes the catastrophe; half of it takes place after the disaster, with big names like Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner and Lorne Greene trying to survive. Not to mention gorgeous Victoria Principal being stalked by psycho Marjoe Gortner, or Walter Matthau getting soused in a bar amidst the chaos.  It has everything, including an extended earthquake enhanced by Sensurround.

As much as I enjoyed the orgy of destruction that San Andreas provides, it’s as if no one else but this one family matters.  The only other character of any import is the soon-to-be-husband of Carla Gugino, played by Ioan Gruffudd.  His role is utterly thankless (as was his recent turn as “Stuffy” in Playing it Cool), receiving his just comeuppance on the Golden Gate Bridge.  But of the millions of people whose lives are destroyed in this cataclysm, the movie cares not a whit.  Such insularity lessens the wider impact of the event and trivializes its horrific extent.

I think the best way to have made this particular tale would have been to double the length and add other stories.  Paul Giamatti describes the biggest quakes as lasting five minutes or more.  These quakes, allegedly larger, last mere seconds.  Why not cover the quake in real time as characters actually try to survive, with some of them failing dramatically?  And then follow the survivors as aftershocks, fires and floods threaten them all over again.  It’s an easy formula, but San Andreas only follows it part of the way.

All that being said, I enjoyed the film.  Far too many of the buildings that collapse are obviously CGI effects, but the aerial shots of the coast bucking like a bronco are very impressive.  The tsunami sequence is very good as well; I wish more of the action was that intense.  What is on screen is, if you enjoy this sort of smash-bang-survive stuff as much as I do, pretty solid.  But it could have been great if it had committed to depict a wider cross-section of characters.  Dwayne Johnson can certainly carry a movie like this, but he cannot be the only heroic guy on the West Coast, especially if the Hollywood studios all bite the dust.  Where are redoubtable George Kennedy or Richard Roundtree when you need them?  ☆ ☆ 1/2.  30 May 2015.