Frustratingly average

Rating: Null/10 (27 August 2008)

"The Rock" is not Michael Bay's most popular film but it appears to be his most acclaimed and least hated, at least on the internet. This is one of the reasons that watching "The Rock" is such a frustrating experience. The script is slightly less dumb than Bay's other movies (except for the massively underrated "The Island"), but it's still packedwith terrible attempts at humor and a boring plot. This was, after all, written by the team that gave us "Double Jeopardy". It's not just a matter of how incredibly complicated and intricate Bay's style of film-making is that is impressive. Bay is more than just another commercial hack, and he has a rare, vast knowledge of his craft, real skill, a remarkable work ethic. That is why it is so frustrating that he does not choose to make more interesting features, ones with half-decent scripts maybe? "Armageddon" isn't as good as this, but at least it makes more sense as a Criterion inclusion. Hey, at least there's that wicked chase scene.
5/10