SAN ANDREAS

23/6/2015

話說我自從到名古屋旅遊之後，心情一路未有回魂，做甚麼事都提不起勁，唯有觀看電影則是精神百倍。

數年前我申請了UA戲院的金卡，看電影、買小會會儲積分，不知不覺間積分已累積到6000多分了，不使用積分可浪費得緊，於是昨晚就去到Megabox換了兩張《加洲大地震》的戲票了。

故事劇情引用自維基：

Raymond "Ray" Gaines (Dwayne Johnson) is a Los Angeles Fire Department helicopter-rescue pilot, who at the beginning of the film saves a girl, Natalie (Morgan Griffin), after her car is stuck on the side of the San Andreas Fault. In the midst of a divorce from his estranged wife, Emma (Carla Gugino), he calls his daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario) to discuss their upcoming trip to San Francisco. Meanwhile, Caltech seismologist Lawrence Hayes (Paul Giamatti) and his colleague Dr. Kim Park (Will Yun Lee) are at the Hoover Dam making a breakthrough in earthquake prediction when an unknown fault nearby ruptures, triggering a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that collapses the dam and kills Park in the process when he stays on the dam to save a little girl. When Ray is called into work, Blake reluctantly decides to go with her mother Emma's new boyfriend, Daniel Riddick (Ioan Gruffudd), a wealthy real estate developer, to San Francisco where he is completing a downtown high-rise building.

Hayes discovers that the San Andreas Fault is starting to shift, causing a massive 9.1 earthquake that starts ripping apart major cities along the fault line. At the same time, Emma is having lunch with Daniel's sister Susan (Kylie Minogue) when the quake hits Los Angeles, destroying much of the city with Susan among its heavy casualties. Ray is able to save Emma, and they barely escape the city onboard his helicopter. Much of Southern California becomes affected by the quake. In San Francisco, Daniel brings Blake to his office building. Blake waits for Daniel in the lobby, where she meets Ben (Hugo Johnstone-Burt), an engineering student from the United Kingdom seeking employment at the office, and his little brother, Ollie (Art Parkinson). Daniel returns and attempts to leave the office with Blake, but the two become trapped in their car in the parking garage of the building after the string of earthquakes begin to strike the city, partially collapsing the garage. Daniel leaves the car in search of help, but flees in terror, leaving Blake behind. She is found by Ben and Ollie, who help free her from the car and escape the collapsing building. The trio find a working phone line and Blake calls Ray, who begins to fly toward San Francisco with Emma to save her.

While enroute, the engine in Ray's helicopter suddenly fails, forcing him to make an emergency crash-landing into a mall below them in Bakersfield, where massive looting is taking place. Among the chaos, Ray steals a Ford F-150 from the parking lot, and the couple resumes their journey on the road, but find they are trapped by the expanding fault line. The couple comes across an older couple broken down on the side of the road. They find out that the older couple own an aeroplane. The older couple agrees to give them the keys to the plane in exchange for their vehicle. Before starting the engine, Ray doubts that he'd be able to save Blake, remembering when he failed to save his other daughter, Malorie, from drowning in a drifting accident. But he is encouraged by Emma to save their only living child, and the couple take off to find her.

Meanwhile, Blake, Ben and Ollie try to find a spot in the city where Ray and Emma can save them; seeing that their planned rendezvous point, Coit Tower, is already engulfed by flames. With help from news reporter Serena (Archie Panjabi), Hayes is able to warn others of a much bigger earthquake in San Francisco, just in time before it hits; becoming the largest earthquake ever in history, recorded as a 9.6.

Ray and Emma eventually arrive in San Francisco, abandoning their aircraft and parachuting into AT&T Park just as the aftershocks continue to destroy the city. They commandeer a boat and hear a warning over the radio that a tsunami is approaching the city. Along with other evacuees with boats of their own, they are able to get over the incoming wave near the Golden Gate Bridge. Daniel, who is on the bridge, is killed when a cargo ship slices the bridge in half and a loose shipping container crushes him. The tsunami floods the city, causing massive casualties and knocking over several buildings. Blake, Ben, and Ollie manage to run into Daniel's building moments before the water hits. They move up floors and manage to signal Ray and Emma, who are searching nearby for Blake. As they see the trio, the building starts sinking into the ground, causing water to flood the building. Ben and Ollie are able to escape, but Blake becomes trapped in the rising water, runs out of air, and, losing hope, nearly drowns herself before Ray can get to her. Emma crashes the boat through the building's thick window panes in an attempt to get everyone on board before escaping as the building completely collapses. Now aboard the small boat, Ray performs CPR on Blake and finally revives her after several minutes.

The five make it to a relief camp in Marin County. The now reconciled Ray and Emma, along with Blake, Ben, and Ollie, talk about their future as the sun slowly sets on the now destroyed Bay Area, now swarmed with different military organizations and rescue vehicles initiating the relief process. The camera pans out, revealing the quake has changed the geography of the San Francisco Bay Area.

其實這類災難片，劇情沒有甚麼好說的，不外乎就是遇難、脫險、遇難、脫險。重點當然是享受特技效果了。

地震，人類由古到今都驚懼不已的天然災害，其破壞不只是地殼震動，往往海嘯也會隨之而來，基本上沒有相關求生知識和經驗的人，很難在一次具規模的大地震中全身而退。人類自以為憑著先進的科技，能夠征服大自然，殊不知道在地球上生活的我們，其實分分秒秒都在大地之母的掌握之中。

災難片精彩的地方有數點：特技帶來濃重的末日感、人類在求生過程中的光輝和黑暗面、主角在多次危險中以不可能的姿態脫險。

首先是特技方面，時至今日，電影公司只要肯花大把金錢，就能創造出幾可亂真的災難盡面，而這些令觀眾心驚肉跳的畫面，大多不是用精細的道具堆砌出來，而是使用電腦創作。作為一個經常看商業片的人來說，我認為本作的特技算是合格有餘，除了開首時的文戲之外，本片大部份時間都在災難畫面上，總算沒有雷聲大雨點小。

談談我較為深刻的畫面，比如主角駕船駛上海嘯之巔、大樓崩塌、海底救女，雖然不能算是經典畫面，但卻看得我非常投入。雖然活在香港的人，大部份都不會試過地震的滋味(旅遊時遇險的另計) ，但有些事情就如吸毒一樣，就算不用親身嘗試，你也能夠知道其禍害。看畢本片後，我真的很慶幸香港不是位於板塊分裂區，不然以香港的建築密度來說，一次地震應該能消滅五分之一的人口。

接下來想記下的是有關人性的光與暗。本片的特技效果使人滿意，那麼作為一部災難片，這樣已有至少五十分確保及格，然而遺憾的是，本片未能在餘下五十分取得佳績。本作的設定其實頗為大路，通俗一點來說是「老套」：主角與妻子正在分居準備離婚、妻子交到一個富有得要命的男朋友、與媽媽一起的女兒希望父母終有一天能夠和好如初，看到這個設定時，我就猜想女兒定必會夢想成真。男主角的情敵，先扣三十分；富有，扣三十分；在危難中拋下主角女兒，扣三十分；在逃難過程中表現自私，再扣十分，結果他當然是必須死了。老實說在眾多角色中，男朋友的形象是相對最立體的，沒法子，奸角的形象往往較正派容易建立。但他實在是死得太快太早，其實可以多拍一點他的鄙劣行徑嘛，兩下子就死了，很是浪費。加上本片的敘事角度不多，數來數去只是主角與妻子、女兒與英國兄弟、教授及記者與男朋友，一下子少了一個視角，可觀性即時下降。

男主角，大家都熟悉得緊的光頭猛男The Rock，一技一如以往的精湛，把便秘的苦情表現得入木三分，演這種不需要很多內心戲的電影就對了。可別誤會我討厭這個演員，我可是他的影迷，他一身橫練的肌肉可不是蓋的，加上那明明是悲情戲份也能使人笑出來的的喜感，簡直就是人才。重入正題，在災難片中，主角擁有不死金身是常識，而男主角在本作中簡直就是神一般的存在，上天下海無所不能，駕駛飛機船隻、空中跳傘只是小菜一碟，走到哪都能找到所需的交通工具這種神運才是最可怕的地方。然而，本作對主角(其實是對所有角色) 的形象建立都不大重視，雖然有為男主加入「曾經有個女兒在自己眼前溺斃」的悲劇設定，然而男主的個性都仍然是那麼既簡單又平面，沒有甚麼深刻之處。

男主的太太、女兒，都是同理，面目模糊，大概這就是為了把時間多放在災難上而犧牲文戲的無奈取捨吧。不過有一點我能夠肯定，就是片中的女角都是精心挑選過的，比如女兒的初出場就是比堅尼裝亮相，司馬昭之心啊。就算是片首的救援行動，那個被困的少女也有波濤洶湧的表現。我明白的，這種類型的電影就是要有肌肉猛男及穿著緊身衣物的美少女拔足狂奔，等於超級英雄片一定要有超級英雄和超級惡棍。

整體而言，本作的劇情乏善足陳，特技則是十分逼真，讓人相當投入。至少我現場所見，每當出現驚險的畫面時，場內的女觀眾都合拍地各自挨向身邊的伴侶，足見本作的災難場境製作之用心。兩個小時中，絕大部份時間都在歷險，相信能滿足追求感官刺激的觀眾吧。美中不足的還是敘事視角太少，使這場本應是最大級的災難，震撼程度仍是未達到應有的水平。

65分。

P.S. 我旁邊坐著一位女觀眾，看得十分投入，片中一出現驚險鏡頭都會驚呼出聲，或是「呀！」或是「哇！」，我明白這是投入的表現，正如觀看笑片時全場爆出笑聲時，你不會指這是惡意的噪音，只是這位女士驚呼的頻率實在太密，使我感覺難受……姨姨，你有種就叫得再頻密一點，我還以為自己在看A片。加上女士不時出現的一句半句感想，我真的硬了(拳頭) 。