Welcome to the Rock

Rating: 8/10 (25 July 2009)

I've heard one reviewer say about Michael Bay that he is aggressively untalented. This may be true, but as much as we all love to hate him, I cannot deny that he has made a couple of solidly entertaining movies. The Rock is one of them. I think this is his best movie and also one of the best action movies of its decade. With good performances from a sensational cast and rousing action, The Rock a worthy watch.
We begin the story with general Frank Hummel, who is angry with his country. He feels that that families of his dead war comrades did not receive proper compensation. He steals sixteen warheads and holds a Eighty San Francisco civilians hostage in Alcatraz. He then gives the American constitution two days to pay (I forget how much money) or it's boom time. The FBI turns to one extraordinary individual for help. John Mason, is the only person ever to escape from Alcatraz. For reasons unknown to us, he has been locked away for thirty years, only released now to help. He is angry and unwilling, but eventually he cooperates. With the help of quirky FBI scientist Stanley Goodspeed, Mason takes a team to Alcatraz, to try and sabotage Hummel's plan from the inside. Is it gonna work?
The story may not be super smart, but it holds together solidly, except for one silly plot twist which starts the climax. It has to do with the character of Frank Hummel, who is one of the more interesting bad guys in Hollywood blockbuster history. The script fleshes him out to a fairly large extent, and Ed Harris's performance brings a certain warmth to the character. It was not until A History of Violence came out when I realized that Ed Harris can play a really dirty villain. Compared to that movie, he seems about as menacing as a boyscout in the Rock.
Sean Connery plays his role well, and unlike Harrison Ford, his age does not interfere with the character. Nicholas Cage is extremely funny as the typical nerd scientist, but at times he goes a little too far over the top. Regardless of where the characters have occasional flaws, you end up having too much fun with them to care.
This applies to the Rock as a whole. It has its idiocies, but it does just about everything that a good action film should. It is almost the Die Hard of the decade.