“San Andreas” in IMAX 3D will shake the popcorn right out of your lap.
In fact, if Memorial Day (or the end of May in countries other than the U.S.) officially kicks off the summer movie season, “San Andreas” is the kind of terrific escapist fun you want in a big-screen blockbuster.
And all the epic disasters depicted in L.A., San Francisco and the Hoover dam are most impactful in 3D and on large format IMAX screens, not only visually due to the size and depth, but also because the IMAX-configured audio system hits so hard that one begins to wonder what the odds are that a real earthquake might be striking just as you are watching this particular movie.
3D showings of the movie accounted for 44% of the much-better-than-expected $53 million opening weekend in the U.S. and another $60 million overseas, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
<Review continues below the following short video with comments by director Brad Peyton about the superiority of the IMAX presentation…>
In these films the big-screen spectacle is the attraction (it got an A- CinemaScore rating from audiences opening weekend). The storyline and characters are little more than vehicles to take us from one display of devastation to the next. The script and the actors here — Johnson and the actors playing his wife, daughter, her new rescuer/boyfriend and his little brother — do just that, and even in a way that is pleasant enough so as not to be a distraction or induce groaning. And they are just compelling and convincing enough to keep you emotionally engaged in the plight of the characters, a heroic L.A. fireman who has just been served divorce papers by his wife. This means he will not see his beloved teenage daughter as much anymore since he just learned that his wife and daughter will be moving in with her new super-rich boyfriend who builds big buildings (of course, being a formula movie, the rich guy is also a self-centered jerk). The brief back-story lets us know that the fireman was unable to save his second daughter in a kayak drowning accident. This is not only what led to the emotional detachment with his wife, but, as we can all see coming, a chance for redemption in a life-saving situation with their remaining daughter. But that doesn’t come until he first makes a harrowing rescue of another young lady on the side of a cliff, and then his wife from the top of a collapsing building.
But, again, this movie is not about the story, but the wow-factor, which includes the collapse of all the landmarks in L.A., which the fireman navigates overhead in a helicopter and on ground in a stolen pick-up truck; a huge canyon created north of Bakersfield which the fireman flies over in a stolen airplane; and the downfall of iconic buildings, bridges, and ballparks in San Francisco, not to mention an 80-foot earthquake-induced tsunami which the fireman navigates in a stolen speed boat. All of this looks incredibly convincing, especially in 3D while encompassing your entire field of view with the larger IMAX screen, and as the sounds seem to surround you even moreso than the “Sensurround” experience of the 1970s — giant bass speakers in the rear of theaters — that premiered in the original “Earthquake” and ended after thumping audiences of “Midway,” “Rollercoaster” and the theatrical version of the original “Battlestar Galactica” TV pilot.
All the while, the impressive musical score adds almost subconsciously to the experience as well.
You want “Sophie’s Choice” or “Macbeth,” this is not for you. If you want a big-scale thrill ride, “San Andreas” is your best bet until the next big IMAX 3D movies hit in the coming weeks, including “Jurassic World,” “Terminator Genisis,” and the IMAX version of “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.”
— By Scott Hettrick