Review of The Rock (1996) by Filipeneto — 18 Mar 2018

In this film, San Francisco will be threatened by a general with an important arsenal of chemical weapons hidden in the old prison of Alcatraz. Directed by Michael Bay and scripted by David Weisberg, it has the participation of Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage.

Alcatraz is one of the most famous and feared prisons in the world. During decades of work, virtually no one could escape from there and tell the story. Now a museum, still retains its charm, and that was wisely used in this film. The wards of the old prison gave excellent scenarios for the film, filling it with a rusty and decadent beauty. The cast is good and the participation of Sean Connery and Ed Harris (the villain) stands out. Nicolas Cage has also played well, despite being erased by the two older actors. Nevertheless, this film is not usually considered one of the best in Connery's career (always pursued by Bond in people's mind). Ed Harris was surprisingly positive and managed to humanize his character. We see that its a man with feelings, acting in accordance with his conscience, despite the ends don't justify his means. The script is interesting, covering a topic rarely seen in action movies: chemical/biological terrorism. It contains several plot twist of great quality, becoming more unpredictable in more dramatic moments. The end is quite good.

The film has some problems when using some very common action clichés such as putting Mason as a "lone hero" or that mediocre car chase full of accidents, too sensational to be credible. There are movies where the use of these clichés is good because it manage, in some way, to innovate or to look different than we've seen. But this was not achieved here.