Incredibly Entertaining Nonsense

Rating: 10/10 (12 November 2012)

Ostensibly, "The Rock" ranks as Sean Connery's last memorable motion picture. This supercharged, high-octane, but improbable shoot'em up concerns renegade Army General who takes civilian hostages, occupies Alcatraz Prison with a small force, and threatens to fire poison rockets with deadly VX gas at San Francisco if the government refuses to bow to his demands. The FBI assigns Special Agent Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage of "Con-Air") to the case, and he receives help from the only man who successfully escaped from Alcatraz. As it turns out, this brilliant individual is former British secret service agent John Mason (Sean Connery of "Zardoz") who has been buried in the U .S. Penal system because he got his hands of all of America's top-secrets. FBI Director Womack (John Spencer) fears Mason. He sends in Goodspeed to negotiate with Mason. Naturally, Mason demands a trip into San Francisco, a meal in a sumptuous hotel, and a haircut. Eventually, a reluctant Mason leads Cage under the island, and they set out to disarm the rockets. Our heroes face a deadline as they battle their way through bowels of the prison. The Navy plans to obliterate the island if Mason and Goodspeed blow it. The first obstacle that our heroes encounter is a massacre in the prison showers when Hummel's men wipe out a squad of Navy Seals. One of the best scenes concerns a chase through the streets of San Francisco with Connery driving a Hummer. The script bristles with great lines. The music is terrific. If you watch closely, Cage's character learns how to lie during the course of the action. Michael Bay never lets the pace lag. Composers Nick Glennie-Smith and Hans Zimmer enhance the spine-tingling suspense with atmospheric music.