The Rock 1996

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Since the plot is ridiculous, The Rock works best when it's most light-hearted. Read more

Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune: There isn't a shot, scene or sequence in The Rock that doesn't move furiously, typically with colored lights flashing into our faces or onto those of the actors. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Slick and forceful, largely unconcerned with character, eager for any opportunity to pump up the volume both literally and metaphorically, The Rock is the kind of efficient entertainment that is hard to take pleasure in. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: If it's not the most awful thing I've ever seen, it's close enough to make me wince. Read more

Desmond Ryan, Philadelphia Inquirer: The borrowings from other movies, going all the way back to the car chase in 1968's Bullitt, are heavy. But Bay has three leads to lend weight and dimension to characters who are hardly original and flatly written. Read more

Doug Thomas, Seattle Times: You might need to take Dramamine before entering a Michael Bay movie. The one-time music-video director has an annoying habit of finding the tightest shots, editing the heck out of them and scoring the works to loud music. Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: Excitement may be The Rock's selling point, but it has plenty more to offer than you bargained for. Read more

Janet Maslin, New York Times: Pure why-not bravado, pumped-up and staggeringly dishonest but exciting just the same. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Even in a movie that's all noise and bluster, Cage and Connery inject tasty bits of personality into their roles. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: From a helicopter's point-of-view, The Rock is just typical big American dumb fun. It's only when you look underneath at the film's underlying assumptions that you want to recoil. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Producers Jerry Bruckheimer and the late Don Simpson have a highly-successful resume that includes Top Gun and Crimson Tide. The Rock will add more luster to that reputation. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: A first-rate, slam-bang action thriller with a lot of style and no little humor. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: A popcorn-movie deluxe. Read more

Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle: Cage steals the show, adding a touch of wimpiness to the high-decibel bravado. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: For action-adventure fans, it just doesn't get any better than The Rock. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: Slick, brutal and almost human, this is the team-spirit action movie Mission: Impossible should have been. Read more

Wally Hammond, Time Out: Fake countdown and knowing reactionary tone, but the best SF car chase to date. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: The yarn has its share of gaping holes and jaw-dropping improbabilities, but director Michael Bay sweeps them all aside with his never-take-a-breath pacing. Read more

Hal Hinson, Washington Post: Ultimately, the movie deteriorates into a long commercial for the home-game version of itself. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Even for adults, the movie's a violence-intoxicated, far-fetched, morally corrupt drama that sinks like a... you know. Read more