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. (2015-08-29)

The surprise appeared where I absolutely did not expect it. San Andreas does have some nonsense and clichés, but that can be forgiven because in terms of special effects and atmosphere this is a very good disaster blockbuster and I can't think of a better one off the top of my head. The pace of the film is incredible, you are breathless during the action scenes and you just enjoy it, there is even a decent amount of panic, chaos, anarchy, and for a PG 13 film it is even quite rough, Alexandra Daddario is also a triumph with her divine breasts (I wish she'd gotten an Academy Award for them), the occasional light humour is a delight, and the biggest surprise of all is the final touching sequence, where everyone in the cinema was pulling out their handkerchiefs. Super recommended. PS: the Apple product placement is unmissable :D 80% (2015-05-30)

The Rock is cool, no doubt about it. Otherwise, this is just a bunch of terrible, boring clichés, dull dialogue, amateurish acting and overwrought CGI; just everything I hate so heartily about the current mass production of the dream factory. And three people wrote the script for this? This shows that some professions in Hollywood are even easier than receiving welfare. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Emmerich! (2015-08-27)

A great feet-up movie where the main attractions in my eyes aren’t San Fierro blowing up, but Alexandra "look at them wobble" Daddario and her movie mother. The Rock puts on a good performance and the movie certainly doesn’t lack entertainment. The putting the family back together plot line is typically Americana dumb, but suffices for this popcorn piece. (2016-10-29)

My guess is that the screenplay was rewritten six times which, as a result, is not able to maintain even a hint of consistency / escalation in both storylines (family / seismologist). Horrible dialogues, rubber acting, tricks that can be bought for 100 million today, amusement park directing. For 4DX cinema, it can work as a tech demo. I am giving the film a single star just for its hint of an interesting ideological storyline, in which the almost shocking selfish concentration of the man responsible for saving others on his family plays a role. There has not been such a strictly individualistic disaster film for a long time that would place the restoration of America purely on the shoulders of capable individuals who fight only their private wars. Unfortunately, even this factor is there purely for laughter. This movie as broken as the world it depicts. The earthquake comes as a divine punishment when the characters have nothing more to say. And that's basically the case all the time with San Andreas. On my Richter scale of nonsense, it’s a pure ten. (2015-05-28)