Michael Bay keeps catching me out. I watched The Rock - Thermalized by CBB having totally forgotten that Bay was the director.
Michael Bay with Renny Harlin and Ron Howard are my least favorite directors. Their souls are firmly sold to mediocrity yet they are probably the most prolific and gainfully employed directors in Hollywood.
Just look at what Michael Bay threatens to offer us in the future: The Unborn (2009) (post-production), Friday the 13th (2009) (post-production), Fiasco Heights (2009) (pre-production), The Birds (2009) (pre-production), A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) (pre-production).
The Review
The Rock: Thermalized
I would have liked to have seen less of Cage's plastic surgery enhanced girl friend. She comes across as an annoying brat. Her character suggests that the future marriage will not be a happy one as she selfishly disregards Cage's demand that she not visit San Francisco. She knows he works in a dangerous department of the F.B.I. so should heed his advice, if she had any common sense. Her voice is also cringe inducing. Connery's daughter also has the faux look of surgical alteration.
The constant yelling and "humorous" quips by Cage become tiresome. The first time he disassembles a chemical bomb he finds a lot of time to simply bitch at Connery rather the concentrate on the dangerous task in hand.
Also the highly trained soldiers or mutineers that have taken the rock are so highly trained that they never post a single guard at any of the missiles directed at San Francisco! When their General commands that they cease-fire, these professional soldiers continue firing relentlessly and with wild abandon!
The saving grace of this movie is Connery.
CBB has lost as much of the caricature gay barber but still the character exists. CBB has also removed the theme-park ride aspects of the chase in the tunnels. He has also made Cage's escape from the final missile explosion more plausible. That said our two heros have survived hundreds of rounds being fired at them from modern automatic weapons by simply hiding behind office furniture, so I think the plausibility of Cage surviving a missile fired from a jet is certain.
Many years have passed since the murder of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. A world changing event that still has powerful implications today when we see what family is in power. I am not an American but I find it rather sick that the final gag of this tasteless movie is in regard to that tragic day. I suppose our Hollywood heroes will soon be making jokes about 9/11. Shame on you Michael Bay!
The DVD
As usual is very well presented. There are no hard audio or visual cuts but I did notice some strange audio during the final explosion. The picture quality is good and there are some nice extras.
