THE ROCK
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1996 Michael John Legeros
(Hollywood) Directed by Michael Bay Written by Douglas S. Cook, John Hensleigh, David Weisberg Cast Sean Connery, Nicholas Cage, Ed Harris, David Morse, Michael Beihn, William Forsythe MPAA Rating "R" (presumably for language and violence) Running Time 129 minutes Reviewed at General Cinemas at Pleasant Valley, Raleigh, NC (7JUN96)
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Now *this* is more like it. Soaked in testosterone, star-powered by a trio of A-list actors, and stylish steered by 24-year-old BAD BOYS director Michael Bay, THE ROCK delivers the sort of all-out sensory assault that this year's summer season has been in dire need of. Producers Don Simpson-- who died this spring and to whom the film is dedicated to-- and Jerry Bruckheimer (TOP GUN, BEVERLY HILL COP) know that nothing succeeds like excess. They've pushed THE ROCK to be their hardest, fastest, and loudest blockbuster yet. The results are just that: big, bold, immensely entertaining, *and* of surprising depth. A canny combination of popular genres, THE ROCK is equal parts caper flick and buddy pic, mixed with bits and pieces of political conspiracy and secret-agent stuff. All shaken, not stirred, of course. (Imagine an Oliver Stone-scripted DIE HARD sequel starring James Bond and you're halfway there.)
The plot introduces a disgruntled Marine general (Ed Harris) who has devised an elaborate hostage scheme for getting money to the families of servicemen who were disowned by the government after certain secret missions. He and a crack group of soldiers steal a set of gas-filled rockets, infiltrate Alcatraz island in the San Francisco Bay, and threaten mass death and destruction if their demands are not met. The feds respond by sending in a SEAL team accompanied by two peculiar characters: an FBI chemical weapons specialist (Nicholas Cage) who has more experience with a guitar than a gun and a former Alcatraz inmate (Sean Connery) with a rather unusual history. One knows about rockets; the other knows about "the Rock." (Connery's character is a former British intelligence agent, wink wink, who stole some of J. Edgar Hoover's secrets and has since been held, without trial, in various maximum- security prisons for the last thirty years.)
Before they land on the island-- via underwater transport in a nod to THUNDERBALL-- both Cage and Connery get their fair share of horseplay. Cage is at the center of a nifty bomb diffusion/poison gas sequence near the beginning of the film, while Connery later performs an ingenious escape from a high-rise penthouse. (Oh, if only Pierce Brosnan were so dashing.) Both Cage and Connery end up in a spectacular car chase, with one in a "borrowed" Ferrari and the other driving a civilian (!) Humvie. The director films much of the chase in close-up, which allows us to see such dizzying details as a row of parking meters that disintegrates into a cloud of coins. (He also knows when to pull back the camera. Like when a trolley car goes airborne.) By the time Cage and Connery get to the island-- to play cat-and-mouse with the bad guys-- the more faint-hearted viewers may find themselves already exhausted!
The strengths of THE ROCK are many: the contrast between Cage's mild-mannered intensity and Connery's quicker, more-unpredictable wit; Ed Harris barking orders in his customarily clipped and no- nonsense fashion; the furrowed brows of David Morse, Michael Biehn, and William Forsythe as supporting players in the best boys-club cast since CRIMSON TIDE; cinematographer John Schwartzman's gorgeous bronze and blue hues; and, of course, director Michael Bay's remarkable use of quick-cutting. (You can probably count on two hands the number of shots that last longer than five seconds.) The film's flashy, in-your-face-and-you-better-pay-attention style of narrative may turn off some viewers. Those who can't see the subtle differences between "10" and "11" on a volume dial, for example, may wish to skip this one. THE ROCK roars and for obvious reasons. Just as we need the juice to gloss over the various preposterous plot points, we also need the juice to ensure that *this* summer's thrill ride is more exciting than last summer's. And the summer before. And the summer before that one...
Grade: A-
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Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC
legeros@nando.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w)
Visit me in MOVIE HELL
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