Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson continues to be one of our most dependable action stars, but critics say his affable presence — and some eye-popping special effects — only partially compensate for San Andreas‘ cardboard characters and risible dialogue. Ray Gaines (Johnson) is a Los Angeles Fire Department helicopter pilot who teams with his estranged wife Emma (Carla Gugino) to rescue their daughter after a massive earthquake ravages the Golden State. The pundits say San Andreas is an uneasy (and often preposterous) mix of family drama and disaster spectacle, but it works reasonably well as large-scale popcorn entertainment. (Check out this week’s Total Recall for a list of critically-panned disaster movies, and click through our 24 Frames gallery of wrestlers who became movie stars.)
Aloha has the kind of pedigree that should inspire confidence: it stars Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, amd Alec Baldwin, and it’s directed by Oscar winner Cameron Crowe, the guy behind Say Anything… and Almost Famous. Unfortunately, critics say it’s a startling misfire, a romantic comedy that’s short on romance, laughs, coherence, and tonal consistency. Cooper stars as a pilot who travels to Hawaii to work for a private space firm, where he falls for fellow pilot Allison (Stone) and reconnects with his ex Tracy (McAdams). The pundits say Aloha is an over-earnest, over-plotted jumble of disparate characters and ideas with little of the lightness and smarts of Crowe’s past triumphs.
