The latest Honest Trailer takes aim at Michael Bay’s overwrought mid-90s action classic, The Rock, starring Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery. The 1996 release was just Bay’s second movie, following the smash hit Bad Boys in 1995, and it established a number of his trademarks, including huge ridiculous explosions, quippy one-liners and chaotic action scenes.
The plot of the movie revolves around a disgruntled general (Ed Harris) who captures the infamous Alcatraz prison island in San Francisco. In an attempt to thwart his threatened chemical attack on the city, Cage’s FBI chemist and Connery’s aged prisoner team up with a group of Navy SEALs to infiltrate the island via a series of secret underground tunnels used by Connery to escape the prison decades before. It’s a typically convoluted action movie plot, but Bay’s kinetic direction and the solid performances by all three leads made the movie a hit, and set Bay up for a long career as Hollywood’s go-to guy when it comes to bombastic over-the-top action.
Related: James Bond Theory: The Rock Is Sean Connery’s Real Final 007 Movie
Now, as part of its summer blockbuster Honest Trailer series, the team at Screen Junkies has finally taken aim at The Rock. The video skewers many of the film’s faults. Cage and Connery are called “a chemical nerd” and “an old spy,” respectively, and Harris’ villain, General Francis X is called out for being too nice to have survived Vietnam. But the video also focuses on the fact that it’s a genuinely entertaining 90s action movie and asks if this is what a good Bay movie looks like. The supporting cast of legendary action and horror movie actors, including Michael Biehn, John C. McGinley, Tony Todd and Bokeem Woodbine, also come in for some deserved praise. One of the best jokes is saved for last, as the film’s parody title is “Dwayne Johnson,” playing on the former actor’s wrestling name of “The Rock.” You can watch the Honest Trailer below.
The movie’s stars, Cage and Connery, were an odd combination for an action film, with Connery already well into his 60s and on the verge of retirement by that time, and Cage better known for playing unhinged, quirky characters in independent films. However, as the Honest Trailer points out, the combination worked, with Connery’s gruff Alcatraz escapee playing off of Cage’s anxious chemist perfectly. And as the video further points out, Cage works better than Bay’s original choice of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Honest Trailer is a reminder of how good 90s action movies could be when they were done properly. The Rock proves what can be achieved when you pair old-fashioned movie star power with a series of well-directed action set pieces and a scene-stealing bad guy. It’s also a reminder of what Bay’s potential as a director was, before he descended into the Transformers franchise and the idea of “Bayhem” took hold of his filmmaking.
More: Every Michael Bay Movie, Ranked from Worst To Best
Source: Screen Junkies
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