With the critical bashing Bangkok Dangerous (2008) is receiving and the already mixed reactions to Nic Cage’s next film, Knowing (2009), I decided it was time to look back on some of the highlights of Nic’s career - plus, I was in need of a good action movie.
With that in mind, I popped in The Rock.
Sean Connery leads the cast in this Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay extravaganza, and is as impressive as ever in his role as an ex-British spy (anyone else getting an echo of his old James Bond performances?) who is released from top-secret confinement (read: Guantanamo Bay, before the public even had a name for it) to help a team of Navy Seals bust into Alcatraz.
Connery is at the top of his game in The Rock (it’s unfortunate he couldn’t keep the persona going for the poor The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)). Whether he’s swimming through the depths, braving fire or laying waste to the bad guys, Connery makes the action hero stuff look easy even at his age (too bad Harrison Ford couldn’t have been this impressive for his latest adventure, Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull (2008)) - even managing to keep his humor intact for some pretty funny quips.
Nicolas Cage takes on a role that transitions him from decent comedic actor (It Could Happen To You, Raising Arizona) to full-fledge action star (he would follow up his role in The Rock with a slew of decent action pics, including Con Air and Face/Off).
As the reluctant action hero of The Rock, Cage does a good job of bringing his chemical weapons lab rat into the field. Unlike some action films, his character doesn’t happen to possess really anything that would help in a battle situation - he’s not suddenly an expert at hand-to-hand combat, for example - he’s just a science geek with a purpose. Connery’s spy guy does wear off a bit on him, but even that is pretty minimal.
Ed Harris, as the ex-patriot turned terrorist, does a decent job showing the conflicting emotions turning traitor brings out in this patriotic military man. His character has spent his whole life fighting for the country he loves, and he considers this act of terrorism more of a debt of honor than anything else. As the situation spirals out of control, he conveys the raging emotions barely contained under the surface - and the underpinnings of ghastly understanding and guilt when things get away from him.
It’s a much better role from Ed Harris than most will expect, and stayed as a flukey-good performance from him until his performance in A Beautiful Mind (2001) 5 years later proved he can reach that level again if he wants to.
The supporting cast also provides a few familiar faces, among them Tony Todd (Candyman, Michael Biehn (basically reprising his role from Navy Seals), David Morse (Disturbia (2007)), William Forsythe (The Devil’s Rejects), John Spencer (”The West Wing”) and John C. McGinley (”Scrubs”).
With a plot tailor-made for action, The Rock delivers pulse-pounding excitement from start to finish in what would become typical Michael Bay fashion. With a top-notch score setting the mood, Michael Bay tosses his sctors from one hairy stiuation to the next, while managing to keep the plotline intact. Whether he’s using a Hummer and a Ferrari for a meorably wild chase through the streets of San Francisco, or working with smaller fight sequences, Bay has the ability to bring the action home for the viewer.
Never is the viewer lost or confused during action sequences. Instead, they are riveted to their seats as massive eplosions and gunfire rocket them from scene to scene - yet, despite all the action, Bay knows when to pause and give the viewers a bit of comic relief to slow the adrenaline before plunging them into another pulse-pounding sequence.
The Rock - despite being 14 years old at this point - is still high on my list of favorite action movies of all time. With Connery, Cage and Harris giving impressive performances and a large list of recognizable supporting characters backing them up, not to mention great action sequequences (including one of the better car chases ever seen on-screen) and quote after quotable quote of dialogue, The Rock is one of my favorite action films of all time - and a huge reason why Michael Bay (now directing Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen) has been the go-to guy for big-budget action films for years.
If you haven’t seen The Rock in awhile, it may be time for another viewing. Just make sure to check it out on Blu-Ray or the special Criterion Collection edition of the film - otherwise, you just aren’t doing the movie justice.
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