The Rock (The Rock (DVD))

Member Name: chris212

Product:	The Rock (DVD)
Date:	29/07/09 (85 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Connery as a former SAS soldier

Disadvantages: Not told who shot JFK

The Rock is an action movie that that stars both Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery, Cage as a member of the FBI and Connery as a 'criminal' that has been locked up for a number of decades. The reason why I am reviewing the film is I watched it as a late movie on BBC One.

The plot of the movie centres around a renegade Brigadier General Francis X Hummel, played by Ed Harris, who has become disillusioned with the United States government and their treatment of soldiers that have either been killed in action or left behind on classified missions and denied all knowledge of. To exact revenge he takes up station on the old prison island of Alcatraz, with a load of biological weapons aimed at down town San Francisco. Also look out for an appearance in the 'terrorist' force by the actor that plays Dr Cox in Scrubs, John C McGinley.

In term General Hummel, Harris gets the character inch perfect as the general, as he all that he wants is justice for the soldiers that that have been denied while they have been under his command. As while he is given the tough exterior appearance, you gain the sense that he has become tired and weary of the political establishment, but at the same time still cares for his country that he has served.

Next is where Cage and Connery come in, as Cage plays a biological and chemical expert Dr Stanley Goodspeed. The type of character that Cage plays within this film is a geeky, social inept type of character. While this does come out at times, at points within the film you do not get the impression that this is the case, but this is only on a few and limited number of occasions and you notice it more so at the end of the film. As on the whole cage gets the character spot on.

While Connery plays a former SAS soldier John Patrick Mason, who has been locked up without trial (sound familiar to today) for trying to steal secret documentation from former Director of the FBI Edgar J Hoover, who kept detailed files on anyone of any importance of the day; but has been kept without trial for as he never revealed the location of the film he took. The reason that Connery's character is brought in is because the fact that he was a former resident at Alcatraz and was the only person, or so the film states, that managed to escape from the film. I believe that Connery was an excellent choice to play the character of, as he is believable as the character of Mason, as this trained killing machine.

One point that I found odd about this movie was how the problem of the rockets were solved. I won't said how here, as it would spoil the move, but you would expect something a little bit more complicated for one of the FBI's best chemical expert.

Overall I believe that the film is quite good for what it actually is, a movie where the good guys go to the bad guys hide out and try to stop him from killing a load of people. The plot is literally that simple, but it the actors such as Cage and Connery that bring this movie to life, as I believe that if the movie would not be the same if Connery was not in the film.

One thing that I did find in this film, is that it does challenge the viewers perception of the bad guy in this movie, General hummer, as at the end I found myself asking, who is actually the bad guy of the movie. 'One mans freedom fight is another mans terrorist' comes to mind when I was watching the end of the movie.

One point that I was surprised about the movie was when I saw the director was Michael Bay, as he is very hit and miss in terms of his films, as for every The Rock and Transformers films there is usually a Pearl Harbour in the mix. But I should have spotted this was a Bay film by the inclusion of the car chase.

One point that I would make about this film is that it is not for children, as there is regular swearing throughout the film.

I won't be reviewing the extras, as I was not watching the film on DVD but on TV.

Summary: Good action film