Welcome back to Reloading
where we review games, movies, TV and so on. I just got a copy of Splatoon at the writing of this review
(which was launch weekend). So expect that review shortly if it hasn’t already
released. Until then, here’s a review of a big popular movie starring a big
popular guy doing big tough things. San
Andreas.
I feel like the premise of this movie was one of two things.
The writers came up to the executives and said, “What if we made a disaster
movie, but without the Captain Planet
moral lesson of keeping the world clean because that’s been doing about a
billion times?” The other suggestion might have been “What if we had a new take
on Taken? Instead of Liam Neeson,
it’s The Rock and instead of a daughter being kidnapped by sex-slave-traders,
it’s the biggest earthquake in history and she’s semi-competent at taking take
of herself?” Either way, color me surprised that San Andreas was no only good, but it was actually fun at times that
most natural disaster movies have been failing at for… well many years now.
The movie stars Dwayne Johnson as Ray (not from Disaster: Day of Crisis). He’s not the
retired all-knowing “father-knows-best” character, but a legitimate rescue
worker (fire fighter) whose job it is to rescue people from disaster
situations. So the fact he’s incredibly calm and knowledgeable of the problems
and situations of the film is believable and acceptable enough for me stay in
the immersion of the film. Though the fact he’s competent with every vehicle he
drives does make me suspicious (helicopter, truck, bi-plane, fishing boat,
etc).
He’s the father of Blake (Alexandra Daddario) who is leaving
with her mother, Emma (Paula Gugino) in a divorce situation. The divorce is because
of a now deceased sister that has caused Ray to close up and not want to be
open with his feelings. Emma is leaving for Daniel Riddick (Ioan Gruffudd) a
rich man whose job is basically to make the skyscrapers that are obliterated
throughout the course of the film. There’s also a cliché scientist-team that
discovers the earthquake problem and warns everyone, but they don’t do much
other than what I just said, so there you go.
When the earthquake kicks off, Ray has to save Emma from a
collapsing building. Meanwhile, Blake is trapped in a car in a garage. Daniel
goes to find help and leaves her behind, leaving it to two the Super Limey
Brothers (two British brothers she meets at Daniel’s office) to get her out.
When they do, she shows off her competency and resourcefulness in survival
situations. This is a reason I like this movie better than taken, because Blake
actually utilizes information from her dad and uses it to keep her and her
friends alive. She’s not just a rescue-object, but someone with agency and
actively moves the plot forward, which is a step up from the standard problem
with these films.
Ray and Emma eventually go to save Blake, but between the
aftershocks, the follow-up earthquake, a collapsing building, and a tsunami,
the job seems daunting and impossible. But the family eventually reunites and
the films leaves us not on a message of “we need to change” but a message of
“we will rebuild”. This is a refreshing turn from normal disaster films where
the characters learn a lesson of changing their habits to avoid another ice age
problem like in Day After Tomorrow or
2012. Hell, this feels more like Twister to be honest, but with more likeable
characters.
And while the beginning really did remind me of the
destruction-porn that was Man of Steel,
this at least had color and context to make it more enjoyable. Not to mention
you were seeing the lives of the people of San Francisco getting destroyed, the
rescue workers TRYING to get them out, and the horrors the people must face
(even if only shown in small glimpses) in this dark and dismal situations.
After seeing what happens here, it makes me lose all respect for Man of Steel for completely ignoring
that fact and having an “everyone is fine” ending like it did. It’s almost
insulting to think about when in comparison to San Andreas.
This doesn’t mean San
Andreas isn’t perfect. Again, it still falls to the usual clichés of the
natural-disaster films, but it doesn’t get hung up on them or use ALL of them
like lesser films do, which is at least a plus. And while most characters are
more likable than the average movie, you still have the “asshole step-father
figure” that steals the spotlight with his being a horrible human being. He
gets his comeuppance eventually, but I feel like he was just tacked on and
wasn’t necessary for the film to function at all.
As I said, there’s the cliché science-team that warns the
world of the disaster. They basically serve as the exposition like they always
do and while I feel like said trope is almost unavoidable in these films, I
really wished they had found another way around it. Part of the science team is
killed. They do the whole “oh god” moment when they realize everything is
basically fucked. They even point out how no one listened to them in the
beginning of their research. Maybe do something different like have it where
they were listened to, but it didn’t matter because we’re still fucked anyway.
A part of me hates disaster films because they all come to
the same points. They have a city being destroyed (or world). They have a focus
on an individual family trying to get through the chaos together. They have the
science team doing the exposition. But what I do like is the unrelenting force
of nature filling the role of the “villain” because it can’t be fought or
defeated. It can’t be outsmarted or stopped. It can only be endured and it can
only be survived. It makes the movie focused more on the struggle and survival
of the protagonists. This could only be made better over a longer people of
time (like a TV series) to focus on the longer-lasting effects of survival, but
that’s something games have been doing for a while fairly well.
I digress, San Andreas
was, surprisingly enough, a fun movie worth my time and worth yours as well.
I’m not a fan of the Rock, but he actually sold me as being a damn good actor
this time around and the film itself was engaging, fun, and went to dark places
without holding back. It’s one of the better films to come out in recent memory
and you can certainly do worse than giving San
Andreas a look.
That’s all for this week on Reloading. Next time, I might finally talk about video games. Who
knows!? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the article and don’t forget to like, share,
comment and subscribe. There’s also a YouTube channel and other things on the
blog you’re more than welcome to look because that’d be awesome. I’ll see you
next time for more Reloading.
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