The Rock (1996)

 

A lot of people harp on Michael Bay because most of his work is pretty much 'Things go boom!', coupled with some machismo, women who are only eyecandy and dialogue that is cringeworthy. This is often the case, no doubt about it. But when the man is firing on all cylinders, he's got action down to a T. 

Case and point: 'The Rock'. One of Bay's better films. 

Ed Harris is General Hummel, a highly decorated officer who is nevertheless angry at the government for not recognizing the soldiers lost during black ops missions. He wants some recompense for their families. In order to force the government to acknowledge those lost troopers, he steals several rockets with a highly toxic new nerve gas/chemical. He then proceeds to take over the prison island of Alcatraz with his troops, giving the government about 48 hours to comply with his demands. 

Of course, now the government wants to take him down, but the problem is that Hummel's soldiers are top of the line, so how on Earth do you get onto Alcatraz? 

You enlist the help of a former inmate, a British SAS-agent named Mason. Mason is of course rather reluctant to do this, as the FBI has had him in custody for roughly 30 years. But he is their only chance. Joining the team is chemical specialist Stanley Goodspeed (a Nicolas Cage in his better forms) who has no field expertise, but who is the only one able to successfully defuse said rockets. 

Things don't go well for the SEAL-team with which Goodspeed and Mason are teamed up, as they are all killed moments from entering the facility. So now it's up to our two unlikely heroes to stop Hummel and his men from launching the rockets into the heart of San Francisco and killing thousands upon thousands of people. 

Does this have stellar performances? Not really, but the cast is filled with some great people. In point of fact, it's Ed Harris who is by far the best, giving his General Hummel an excellent mix of authority, decency and tenacity. The guy isn't truly evil, but he's here to make a point. So of course they throw in some extra soldiers who are absolutely evil and when you know one of those guys is played by the awesome Tony Todd, you know you're in for a treat. Cage is also a lot of fun as Stanley and he is nowhere near the overacting machine he sometimes can become. 

Actually, Connery seems to be the only one slumming it a bit. The man had tons of charisma and this helps of course, but there's no denying that Mason feels a bit - well - flat and uninteresting. 

Oh, and you can ignore most of the dialogue as this is never supreme quality with a Bay-feature. 

So how's the action? Exhilarating and fun, even if the editing can at times become too choppy and making things hard to follow at times. But for the most part, it is on point and there is always something to be said for an entertaining and silly film, as this is in every fibre of its being a silly flick. And yes, there are people that won't like the macho behaviour on display, or the slightly too overt masturbation of the military (a Bay staple), but the weird thing is that in essence the message is rather poignant. Sure, it might get drowned out by the explosions, but it's there. Add to all this a rousing score by Hans Zimmer and you're in for a fun ride.