The Cage Review: The Rock

I've seen The Rock several times but the last time I watched it was probably years ago. I watched it this past week and I forgot how much I absolutely love this movie. It doesn't hurt that it is also a Michael Bay movie. Mr. Bay stole my geeky heart with Transformers so it was a definite plus. Who doesn't love a good round of massive explosions, right?

So The Rock (1996) is basically about an unhappy U.S. Marine (Ed Harris) who doesn't like the way his fellow/former troopers have been dishonored. So he decides to take matters into his own hands by stealing a large number of deadly missiles in an attempt to persuade the higher ups of the ol' U.S.A to give him millions of dollars to honor those that were lost at war. And what better way to convince everyone of the honor of military than to hold several people hostage on Alcatraz with a bunch of angry...and possibly crazy...marines who would follow him unto the very end of the world. Er...at least until the end of California as that is where the missiles are aimed. The only problem is that no one knows how to get into Alcatraz, a.k.a. The Rock, undetected except one man: John Mason (Sean Connery), ex-British intelligence agent with an uncanny knack of escaping any prison. Problem: The only one able to disable the deadly nerve-gas missiles is Dr. Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage). He's a...well...dare I say Geeky?...chemical-weapons specialist with the FBI who is not exactly a fighter. But the lives of several hostages depend upon his higher brain function. Will he save the day and rescue the bay? (*Cue dramatic music*)

Okay. I. Love. This. Movie. I laughed a lot, even though I've seen it before. Nicolas Cage's one-liners in this movie are absolutely brilliant and hilarious and he delivers them as only Mr. Cage can. Sean Connery is awesome (big surprise there) and Ed Harris does a great job. Don't worry folks, true to form. Mr. Bay (director) does the military proud because despite the anger of the Ex-marines, they are not monsters and don't really wish to bring harm. (well...maybe a couple of them do but they are psychopaths.) This might actually be right up there as one of my favorite Nicolas Cage movies, if not in my top two. Mr. Cage, sir? You done me proud again. Five stars out of five on the Cage Review chart.