Review: Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson takes charge in San Andreas

REVIEW: Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has never grappled with an adversary he couldn’t eventually pin down. So the mega-quake in San Andreas is no biggie.

San Andreas (M)

Director : Brad Peyton (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island)

Starring : Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandria Daddario, Paul Giamatti, Hugo Johnstone-Burt.

Rating : **1/2

Try this on for seismic

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Both in his old career as a pro wrestler and his current gig as the most irresistibly likeable action star of them all, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has never grappled with an adversary he couldn’t eventually pin down.

So don’t go start worrying for his welfare in San Andreas.

Big guy .... Dwayne Johnson and Alexandra Daddario in the action thriller San Andreas.

So what if the movie pits The Rock against two terrifying tectonic plates that may relocate the entire US west coast to the ocean floor? Want to chuck in a third-act tsunami as well? Bring it on. Doesn’t matter.

Mr Johnson’s undefeated track record speaks for itself. No matter how many irksome earthquakes and rogue tidal waves you throw at him, the dude is gonna win before the final credits roll.

So all that matters in San Andreas is how our happy-go-lucky hero will go about laughing in the face of something that registers 9.5 on the Richter Scale.

Hold on ... San Andreas is your typical old-school disaster movie.

Johnson stars as Ray, a rescue chopper pilot of some repute in Los Angeles. In a standalone sequence at the opening of San Andreas, Ray saves a young woman from a big drop down a cliff face by steering his craft into a small space and holding it there until the job is done.

Aside from his kickass job, Ray is just another in the long line of muscle-bound smile factories The Rock has always played.

Ray also has a small family destined to be in big trouble when the notorious San Andreas Fault begins recklessly rumbling this way and that.

His estranged wife Emma (Carla Gugino) is actually dining in a swish LA restaurant with none other than our own Kylie Minogue when the full-on cataclysms commence.

Action stations ... The Rock is fully equipped to deal with a mega-quake.

Ray swoops in on his trusty bird, plucks the missus from atop a building on fire, and together the reunited couple immediately make tracks for San Francisco.

This city is about to experience the mother of all mega-quakes, and Ray and Emma’s only child, daughter Blake (Alexandria Daddario) is there.

What follows is a basic, moderately engrossing old-school disaster movie, heavy on skyscraper-scrunching effects and people saying “oh my God!” while making their eyes as wide as they can go.

Even The Rock himself gets an OMG moment, but you never once doubt he’s got this potential apocalypse properly covered.

All in all, big dumb fun that doesn’t outstay its welcome, even if it doesn’t bear a second thought afterwards.