San Andreas (12A) ***

Do movie fans really care about plot and characterisation when they go to witness the wanton destruction that is the disaster movie? I think not. And when it comes to San Andreas, that's surely a good thing.  

For this big knucklehead of a blockbuster shuns originality of favour of big-scale destruction of some of the West Coast of America's most famous landmarks. 

The Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge and the skylines of LA and San Francisco all get levelled in this movie that's as clichéd as they come, but entertaining nevertheless.  

Shot in 3D, the plot focuses on the possibility that has been talked about for decades –  an earthquake on the San Andreas fault line in California, which experts say is long overdue.   

Paul Giamatti stars as a seismologist who feels he may have cracked a system that will provide a warning to the public and is testing it on the West Coast when the earthquake happens. Meanwhile, the always-charismatic Dwayne Johnson plays LA Fire Chief Ray Gaines, a man who has planned worst-case scenarios but is currently dwelling on the break-up of his marriage and his separation from his daughter.  

Luckily for him his knack for survival tactics have rubbed off on his girl, who is challenged by wave after wave of disaster as she fights to get to safety with two English brothers she has befriended. 

It’s all terribly formulaic but does what it says on the tin. And if it’s old school action/disaster you’re after, it delivers.

Danny Collins (15A) ****

Al Pacino's the best we've seen him in ages in this touching story of a fallen pop star. 

Based very loosely on a true story, Danny Collins is a former folk star whose talent caused waves on the music scene early in his career. But instead of building on his promise, he took the easy route of writing catchy but cringey pop tunes, using the resulting royalties on cocaine and women. 

Family life went by the wayside, as did his relationship with his son (Bobby Cannavale). 

But when Danny’s manager (Christopher Plummer) discovers and gifts him a letter from John Lennon written forty years before, Danny is so moved and regretful he decides to change the course of his life. He postpones a tour to write new tunes and becomes determined to make amends with his son, to his annoyance and the bemusement of his wife (Jennifer Garner).  

In the wrong hands this could have been very manipulative stuff indeed and Danny Collins veers dangerously close to 'movie of the week' territory at times. 

The cast are note-perfect but this is Pacino's film and he is wonderfully charming and eccentric.