One of my favorite action movies and I'm normally not a fan of these kind of films

Rating: 7/10 (3 June 2005)

Let me start by saying that I'm absolutely no fan of action movies. I find most of them ridiculous and try to avoid them as much as possible. That's of course not a good start when you are about to watch a movie like "The Rock". But before you think that you know where this review will go, I also have to say that this is probably one of the few action movies for which I'll make an exception. That's right, I really like this one and there are many reasons for that. But let me start by telling you what the story is about.
General Hummel has spent most of his career carrying out covert operations. Over the years, he has lost many men, because they got killed during one of these operations or because they had to be left behind. Since these operations were secret, those men or their families have never received any recognition or compensation. After trying to get them that through normal channels, Hummel now decides that it's time for drastic measures. Together with a group of renegade marine commandos he seizes a stockpile of chemical weapons and takes over Alcatraz, taking 81 tourists hostage. If the government doesn't pay 100 million dollar, he will launch 15 rockets, aimed directly to San Francisco and carrying deadly VX nerve gas. As time is running out, the Pentagon sends in an elite SEAL team, together with an FBI chemical warfare expert and a former Alcatraz escapee...
So even though I'm not a fan of action movies, I must say that for this one I'm glad to make an exception. I like it so much because of the very good acting, the good character development, some fine special effects, the believable action and the unexpected twists in this well-written story. I know that's a lot to discuss, so let's start with the acting. With a top cast like this one, including people like Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, William Forsythe... you can't expect anything less but some top-notch performances, but that doesn't mean that you'll get it of course. Too often you'll see some good actors who don't seem to belong in a certain movie or who just seem to have a day that nothing works. Not in this movie. Every single actor has done a very fine job, which of course is a pleasure to watch. The fact that they had some interesting and believable characters to work with will have helped them with that of course.
Think for instance of Dr. Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage). He is no superhero who will just walk in through the main gate, shooting every bad guy with his eyes shut and rescuing all the hostages at the same time. No, this is a man with no decent military training, good at working with chemicals, but afraid to be confronted with the enemy. The same for John Patrick Mason (Sean Connery), he's no superman either. He's a retired SAS commando, so he knows how to kill a foe, but he's also an old man who has spent most of his time in a prison cell. And it's the same about the other characters. No-one of them is just good or just bad and that's what I like so much about this movie. The characters have a certain depth, which is a rare thing for an action movie.
Next to the good acting and the interesting characters, I also liked the action and the special effects. Of course there are a lot of explosions and yes there is a major car chase to be seen in it, but then again: this is still an action movie. If it isn't allowed in this one, where can you use it in then? And it has to be said, it is sometimes a bit much and too prominent, but it is never completely unbelievable like in so many other action movies. The fact that it all looks so good and that it all seems believable also has a lot to do with the nice special effects. Even though this movie is about ten years old now, it doesn't look dated at all. It adds a lot to the tension and the suspense and it feels like it was made only yesterday and that's something that you'll not find in every movie.
So now I'm only left with the good story and the unexpected twists. I'm not going to give too much away about it of course, because that would spoil all the fun for those who haven't seen the movie yet. I just want to say that the story is a nice mix of action, drama, laughter and suspense. It's one big whirlpool that will probably suck you in and will not let you go until the end. I really liked that and that's why I give this movie a 7.5/10.