Very entertaining, but the action scenes are disapointing

Rating: Null/10 (6 May 1999)

As a huge Con Air fan, I was looking forward to The Rock. And I was pretty disappointed. I was expecting something very similar to that movie, with the added bonus of Sean Connery and Ed Harris. The result is less of an action film than an action-heavy thriller. Cage is superb, as always; hilarious yet believable and he makes some great lines up as he goes along. Ed Harris is excellent as a very human villain, and his heavies make some very nasty opponents for the good guys. However, Sean Connery doesn't even have a character. Perhaps the director wanted him to use his natural charm, but....at first we see Connery in jail, and we are supposed to be in awe and afraid of him. After he is released, he is an extremely nice guy doesn't even really mind being stuck in Alcatraz will a bunch of blood-thirsty soldiers on his trail. Luckily, the chemistry between him and Cage works, and they make a cool team.
The other problem is the action scenes, which are much hyped but shot in Joel Schumacher style - meaning extremely fast cuts and extreme close-ups so you can't actually see what the hell is going on. This only really works in the car chase scene, and even that is not really very exiting.
Overall, The Rock is very entertaining but it's no way near as good as Con Air.