It's exactly what the title says. THE ROCK rocks!

Rating: 8/10 (10 November 2007)

My Take: Michael Bay is on the right track in this thrilling, violent and witty non-stop thrill-ride.
First we had SPEED, about a mad bomber planting a bomb on a bus, which must speed through heavy traffic and jump gaps or it blows up. Then, it is followed by other action movies including DIE HARD: WITH A VENGEANCE, EXECUTIVE DECISION and BROKEN ARROW. And now, we have THE ROCK, which is the latest of these long line of "Mad Bomber movies". I bet you know what "Mad Bomber movies" are. Those are the action films which concerns a mad bomber who plans to blow up a bomb until his demands are assured, and the hero/heroes, usually sent by the government, attempt to stop him. THE ROCK is just like that.
Here's the setup, this time, our mad bomber is Brig. Gen. Francis Hummel, a well-decorated military officer for the Marines who also happens to be a Medal-of-Honor winner in Vietnam. So why does he want to do away with the country? Well, during the war, his men, who should have received honor, were abandoned without recognition. Now, Hummel demands $100 million to be given to each of the soldiers' families and threatens to launch a rocket containing biochemical weapons, while in the meantime, also holds hostages of tourists in Alcatraz. The government, who wouldn't want to risk too much with his demands, dispatches their own team to infiltrate The Rock, including Biochemicals expert Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) and a former British spy-turned convict (the only man ever to escape Alcatraz alive) named John Mason (Sean Connery, bringing in a tougher tone from his heroic Bond hero performance).
After an escape and car chase scene along San Francisco, which can be summed up as a deluxe version of the chase scene in BULLIT, which is bound to blow up once in a while. After this car chase, upon arriving at The Rock, we are served up with more action and stunt scenes including some wild shoot-outs, a mine car chase (ala INDIANA JONES & THE TEMPLE OF DOOM), near-misses and a climax involving jets and a green flame.
THE ROCK is directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and the late Don Simpson, which might suggest where the robust action scenes have come from. Bay, a director who fancies a lot of explosions (including excess), manages to keep every sequence a show-stopper. THE ROCK borrows bits from a lot of favorite action films, and that's why, I think, it's so good.
Bay also directed Armageddon which was released then later, which was also an even louder picture than this. Although I did like that picture, I still liked THE ROCK better, since it wasn't only another loud action picture, but also a very good movie. The performances, especially by Connery and bad-guy Harris, are terrific. Cage offers his own charisma as in his other films including CON-AIR (also Bruckheimer/Simpson production). In the case of summer movies (series of films I really love to defend), THE ROCK delivers what it is intended, and a little extras.
Rating: **** out of 5.