Star Dwayne Johnson, having shed his former pro wrestling persona "The Rock," shines nearly as bright as the scenes of catastrophic destruction that lend this movie its purpose. The Hoover Dam, Los Angeles and San Francisco are all razed in stunning detail, as Johnson's war vet LAFD rescue worker uses every conceivable mode of transit to travel north up the fault line in search of bodacious daughter, Alexandra Daddario.

Re-teaming with Johnson after their work on Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), director Brad Peyton pulls out all of the tricks in his disaster movie handbook with gleeful aplomb. Well aware this is B movie territory, Peyton acquits himself nicely by allowing his leads, including the great Paul Giamatti, to drive the plot - not the chaotic events themselves. In this way, the characters seem proactive rather than reactive, often defying conventional wisdom to augment the tension of collapsing cityscapes.

With half a dozen action set pieces dotting the 145 minute runtime, San Andreas delivers on its essential promise of reducing California to rubble in entertaining fashion. Johnson's winning mix of physicality and humor make him a rare commodity in a business where it has become increasingly difficult to open an original property on the shoulders of a single actor. While cliches rule the day and the dialogue ranges from campy one-liners to doe-eyed speechifying, the movie succeeds as escapist summer fare.

Final Grade: B- | 82/100 | ★★½