Generally considered the Michael Bay film for Michael Bay-ophobes, this semi-risible action caper (on some level, all Bay films action capers, even PEARL HARBOR/’01) is at least good fun. Mostly stemming from Sean Connery’s undiminished star power as a wronged prisoner who escaped from Alcatraz decades ago, now needed by an old enemy to stealth-guide a U.S. military rescue unit in to the mothballed prison during a hostage crisis. Ed Harris is a self-justifying Vietnam vet gone rogue, threatening the hostages & all of San Francisco with chemical warfare (supported by a posse of loyal marine acolytes); and Nicolas Cage the combat-virgin chemical warfare expert attached to Connery. A big success, it was the last film (with partner Jerry Bruckheimer) for producer Don Simpson, dead at 53. (Heart attack/various addiction rumors.) Simpson was known for an odd sartorial quirk, wearing a new pair of blue jeans every day, missing the whole point of denim, the way it only starts working for you after much wear, tear & washing. Nearly the same mistake Michael Bay makes in his films. Coming out of music videos, his big action scenes always freshly unpacked, immaculately constructed, but missing the wear & tear that signifies mass, gravity & something at stake. They haven’t been lived in. (Now worse with overused CGI techniques.) Capable of staging a real event when he wants, here Bay loosens his grip to capture a simple little scene with Connery ingeniously using a rope trick to spring Cage & himself out of their prison cells while letting you see how the joints work. It’s the best thing in the pic. Just don’t get your hopes up for more of the same.
DOUBLE-BILL: Don Siegel & Clint Eastwood churn up more suspense with less fuss (and a tenth the budget) in ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ/’79.
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