The Rock (1996) directed by Michael Bay
With just twenty-something more days left in this challenge I was hoping to finish strong with a bunch of classics. The Rock is not one of them, LOL. It just started playing on TV so I started to watch and before I knew it it was already halfway over, so I figured I was committed to seeing the whole thing through. I used to love this movie when I was little and over the years still watched it whenever it came on. It's funny watching it now as an older more experienced movie watcher since it is exactly what I suspected all along, a pretty bad movie. But whatever, let the haters hate because I still enjoy this movie. Call it a guilty pleasure I guess.
The Rock is one of the cornerstones of the action movie extravaganza Hollywood was putting out during the 90's which included such films as Independence Day, Con Air, Wild Wild West and Michael Bay's Armageddon and the Bad Boys franchise. All these movies have have a couple things in common, big budgets, big action, and big box office numbers. They also represent a low point in American cinema and the dumbing down of audience that basically has not recovered since. Case in point, Michael Bay himself who is responsible for maybe the worst franchise in movie history Transformers which has gone on to make over a billion dollars between them.
I think I gave a pretty good summary why I think Michael Bay is bad in my post about Transformers, so I'll try not to just repeat everything I wrote there. Basically it sums down to this. What does he care more about, the art or the business of movies? Do you think he cares that his films are just action porn? Or that his plots make no sense? Or that his corny dialogue can be written by fifth graders? Or that including cliches is actually part of his formula? Say what you want about him, but Michael Bay is undoubtedly intelligent despite how dumb his movies are. He knows exactly what sells and exploits it to the maximum. Yeah, his movies are dumb, but he knows his audience is even dumber and loves them. But how can you really fault Michael Bay? After all he is giving people exactly what they want and the numbers do not lie. People like to go watch his movies. Why should he change things up and ruin things for the masses just to appease a select few?
Anyways, back to the movie. I've said it before but The Rock is easily Michael Bay's best movie even if it does suffer from some of the stupidity and cliche of his other films. This is thanks to a reasonably exciting plot strung together by endless action sequences. But the real reason why the film works is in the dynamic pairing of Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery. I couldn't imagine this film with anybody but these two in the lead. Say what you want about Nicholas Cage, because he's been in a lot of stinkers, but at least he gives it his all in every role he plays. Here he plays the nervous chemicals expert who is forced to come along for the ride because he is the only one who knows how to handle the biological weapon. Sean Connery plays the imprisoned British agent who is needed because he is the only person to have ever escaped off of Alcatraz. Together they must go to The Rock to stop a madman from detonated biological weapons into San Francisco. What results is an adrenaline rush of an action movie held together by gunfights, fist fights, macho men confrontations, explosions, macho man heroism, funny one liners, not so funny one liners, heroic music, idiotic side characters, chase sequences, close calls, speeches, cliches galore Ed Harris's strong jawline, Sean Connery's prickly British attitude and Nicholas Cage's manic eyes.
There are a plethora of stuff that is pretty unbelievable or plain doesn't make sense, but hey it is a movie. Why is there an Indiana Jones style mine cart railway on the island? What is the purpose of that crazy furnace with the deadly rotating gears other than to provide a cool entryway for Sean Connery? Why does Sean Connery wreck half of San Francisco to escape only to willingly be caught again? Why do the mercenaries think they will get paid if they launch the weapons when the logical response would be to just bomb the hell out of the island after? Why are they so intent on launching the weapon when its clear they're not going to get paid anyways? Are they just murdering psychopaths? Why is the head person in charge always a complete moron? I could go on, but honestly, this is actually one of the better scripted Michael Bay films. He doesn't get out of control until Armageddon where literally nothing would ever happen the way it happens in real life.
Anyways it's kind of stupid to criticize a movie like The Rock. It is meant to be popcorn fun and it is. My favorite line of the movie? Cage asks Connery, who's hanging upside down, if he's okay. James Bond responds, "Yes, I'm perfectly okay, you f*cking idiot." You think Shia LeBeof could ever pull that line off?
Grade: B
With just twenty-something more days left in this challenge I was hoping to finish strong with a bunch of classics. The Rock is not one of them, LOL. It just started playing on TV so I started to watch and before I knew it it was already halfway over, so I figured I was committed to seeing the whole thing through. I used to love this movie when I was little and over the years still watched it whenever it came on. It's funny watching it now as an older more experienced movie watcher since it is exactly what I suspected all along, a pretty bad movie. But whatever, let the haters hate because I still enjoy this movie. Call it a guilty pleasure I guess.
The Rock is one of the cornerstones of the action movie extravaganza Hollywood was putting out during the 90's which included such films as Independence Day, Con Air, Wild Wild West and Michael Bay's Armageddon and the Bad Boys franchise. All these movies have have a couple things in common, big budgets, big action, and big box office numbers. They also represent a low point in American cinema and the dumbing down of audience that basically has not recovered since. Case in point, Michael Bay himself who is responsible for maybe the worst franchise in movie history Transformers which has gone on to make over a billion dollars between them.
I think I gave a pretty good summary why I think Michael Bay is bad in my post about Transformers, so I'll try not to just repeat everything I wrote there. Basically it sums down to this. What does he care more about, the art or the business of movies? Do you think he cares that his films are just action porn? Or that his plots make no sense? Or that his corny dialogue can be written by fifth graders? Or that including cliches is actually part of his formula? Say what you want about him, but Michael Bay is undoubtedly intelligent despite how dumb his movies are. He knows exactly what sells and exploits it to the maximum. Yeah, his movies are dumb, but he knows his audience is even dumber and loves them. But how can you really fault Michael Bay? After all he is giving people exactly what they want and the numbers do not lie. People like to go watch his movies. Why should he change things up and ruin things for the masses just to appease a select few?
Anyways, back to the movie. I've said it before but The Rock is easily Michael Bay's best movie even if it does suffer from some of the stupidity and cliche of his other films. This is thanks to a reasonably exciting plot strung together by endless action sequences. But the real reason why the film works is in the dynamic pairing of Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery. I couldn't imagine this film with anybody but these two in the lead. Say what you want about Nicholas Cage, because he's been in a lot of stinkers, but at least he gives it his all in every role he plays. Here he plays the nervous chemicals expert who is forced to come along for the ride because he is the only one who knows how to handle the biological weapon. Sean Connery plays the imprisoned British agent who is needed because he is the only person to have ever escaped off of Alcatraz. Together they must go to The Rock to stop a madman from detonated biological weapons into San Francisco. What results is an adrenaline rush of an action movie held together by gunfights, fist fights, macho men confrontations, explosions, macho man heroism, funny one liners, not so funny one liners, heroic music, idiotic side characters, chase sequences, close calls, speeches, cliches galore Ed Harris's strong jawline, Sean Connery's prickly British attitude and Nicholas Cage's manic eyes.
There are a plethora of stuff that is pretty unbelievable or plain doesn't make sense, but hey it is a movie. Why is there an Indiana Jones style mine cart railway on the island? What is the purpose of that crazy furnace with the deadly rotating gears other than to provide a cool entryway for Sean Connery? Why does Sean Connery wreck half of San Francisco to escape only to willingly be caught again? Why do the mercenaries think they will get paid if they launch the weapons when the logical response would be to just bomb the hell out of the island after? Why are they so intent on launching the weapon when its clear they're not going to get paid anyways? Are they just murdering psychopaths? Why is the head person in charge always a complete moron? I could go on, but honestly, this is actually one of the better scripted Michael Bay films. He doesn't get out of control until Armageddon where literally nothing would ever happen the way it happens in real life.
Anyways it's kind of stupid to criticize a movie like The Rock. It is meant to be popcorn fun and it is. My favorite line of the movie? Cage asks Connery, who's hanging upside down, if he's okay. James Bond responds, "Yes, I'm perfectly okay, you f*cking idiot." You think Shia LeBeof could ever pull that line off?
Grade: B
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