Big dumb fun!

Rating: Null/10 (23 January 2002)

In an attempt to get the US Government to pay for soldiers lost on secret missions General Hummel and a group of soldiers steal biological weapons and take control of Alcatraz, threatening to launch on San Francisco if their demands are not met. Running out of options the FBI take Mason out of prison as he has a knowledge of the island, being the only man to have escaped from there. Mason and bio-chemical expert Goodspeed join a group of Navy SEALS to enter the island and destroy the weapons before they can be used. However the death of the whole SEAL unit leaves Mason and Goodspeed to use stealth to avoid the terrorists and destroy the weapons.
This is nothing more than a big summer blockbuster that relies on plenty of big bangs to get it's audience. It relies on the usual Die Hard set-up of "one man (2 men!) take on heavily armed group in set location". However here the plot is a little iffy - Hummel isn't a terrorist, in fact his stance is almost sympathetic. This makes it all a little funny morally but the film turns it round at one point to go back into traditional good guy/bad guy roles so that the audience don't start to think too much! The action is very good - plenty of bangs for your buck! Even though it's all pretty OTT (like the car chase at the start) the mood of the film is such that it's all a great deal of fun.
Connery is really good in the lead and is funny and rather dashing! Cage's character is not as good and is too weedy at the start and some of his dialogue is grating. The support cast is deep and really good - usually big budget action movies have some well known support actors but this has tonnes! Check the names - Ed Harris, David Morse, John Spencer, William Forsythe, Michael Biehn, John C. McGinley, Bokeem Woodbine - the list goes on!
Overall, if you hate big, dumb summer movies then you'll hate this. I'm split down the middle but the sheer sense of fun that this brings combined with a great cast makes this a winner in my book!