Arguably the finest of the Bruckheimer/Simpson action fests (Simpson died while making the movie), The Rock laid in place many of the new ground rules that any succesful high-octane blockbuster must now abide by. Whereas the Eighties were ruled by big, grunting stars such as Stallone and Schwarzeneggar the Nineties saw a gradual switch away from the 'big explosions and crap one-liners' style to a more refined and marketable era of major actors (witness Cage, Connery, Harris and Morse, all fine actors, in this one film) and well thought out plots.
The Rock is quite original in both it's plotting, a renegade Brigadier General stealing dangerous weapons while hardly new has never been better than here, and it's location. The idea of Alcatraz, a highly defensible and tactically sound base of operations, being used as a launching pad for deadly VX warheads is a superb idea. It also allows the role of ex-SAS spy Connery to be implemented, giving a good excuse for a 60+ actor to give the action genre a go.
Cage, while uttering the infamous 'Zeus's Butthole' line, is very good as the weedy scientist drafted in to defuse the rockets. Watching him get his arse kicked almost makes up for it. Harris is superb giving the role of the chief bad guy a new spin. He isn't in it purely for money or out of madness. He wants to avenge the deaths of soldiers under his command, soldiers who were disavowed by their own country for doing their jobs. The frission that develops between various factions of the protagonists is well developed as the story moves on, at a cracking pace to boot, and explodes as the film moves into it's endgame.
While slightly unbelievable in places, Cage and Connery are left unguarded after capture for instance leading to the obvious Connery-inspired breakout, The Rock is an excellent example of a sophisticated action movie. Bruckheimer has yet to find that right mix again, despite linking up with Cage in both Con Air and Gone in 60 Seconds.
Director Michael Bay however will almost certainly never again receive the kind of acclaim he garnered for this. His MTV style works excellently as it did in the previous years Bad Boys but failed in my opinion when put to the test in Armageddon, a film that required us to believe in the fear and heightened emotion of the general populace. It's okay to do it with cops or soldiers as they are generally seen as un-emotional fodder good only for action (witness Will Smith's reaction to his dead hooker girlfriend in Bad Boys, embarrasing to say the least). It remains to be seen which end of the emotion stick Bay's forthcoming Pearl Harbor will use. |
