Here We Go Again..."London Has Fallen"

London Has Fallen (2016)

Rated R

Starring Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman,

Directed by Babak Najafi

The Story:

President Asher (Eckhart) heads to London for a funeral. Naturally, that's when a terrorist attack takes out all the leaders of the visiting nations except for the President, thanks to the planning of Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Butler). Can he keep the President alive again, or is this finally the Vice President's (Freeman) chance for promotion?

Okay, I admit, I had a blast watching Olympus Has Fallen a few years ago. It was Die Hard...in the White House!

Much like the Die Hard franchsie, the setpiece has to get bigger, and this one plays more like Die Hard With A Vengeance as the two race all across London trying to stay one step ahead of the bad guys who want to catch and kill the President on live tv.

So that being said, this is a popcorn film, round two!

If you didn't like the first installment, you'll find nothing redeeming here.

Otherwise, if you didn't mind it, you'll have a good time watching London get blown up, real good.

;)

I'm not sure if they can pull off yet another sequel in the franchise.

Eventually, the President is going to stop going places, or run out of time in the office.

But if they decide to give it a go in the future, I'll be back.

I watched the DVD version, but now that this review has moved to the top to be published, you also have the option of streaming on Netflix.

It doubles your chances of being able to watch and enjoy some popcorn!  :)

Final Grade: B-

Tatum To The Rescue! "White House Down"

I get a feeling of deja vu...

The Story:

Cale (Channing Tatum) is a Capitol Service policeman attached to the detail of the Speaker of the House (Richard Jenkins).  But Cale is dreaming of working security for President Sawyer (Jamie Foxx) to impress his daughter (Joey King).  Of course on the day he takes his daughter to the White House for an interview, well that's the day that some really bad guys decide to take over Washington D.C. and take the President captive.

And they might have gotten away with it, if only they would have left Cale's daughter out of it.

But they didn't, and now he's mad.

And he's going to get his daughter back!

Welcome to 2013, when terrorists taking over the White House is not the subject of one Hollywood movie, but two!

First was Olympus Has Fallen, previously reviewed right here on this very spot! http://talesfromthequeue.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-step-by-step-guide-to-overthrowing-dc.html  It's now also streamable on Netflix if you still haven't seen it, or would like to watch it again.

If that was "Die Hard in the White House", then I guess this go-round we're going for "Lethal Weapon in the White House".

It's the buddy cop formula as Tatum and Foxx team up for most of the movie trying to stay alive and one step ahead of those dastardly fiends that are trying to catch the President.

There was some good stunts, some funny lines, and there's nothing inherently wrong with this take on taking out the White House.

However, there's nothing really memorable here either.

In fact, this one actually makes Olympus Has Fallen seem better than it may have been in retrospect.

This one's a little too long, and a little too reliant on the daughter for too many plot devices, than it should be.

Probably streaming on Netflix in about 6 months, but for now you'll have to rent or buy it.

Final Grade: C+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I could watch it again, but wouldn't go out of my way to do so.  If it comes on cable or something and the remote is too far... ;)

A Step by Step Guide to Overthrowing DC... "Olympus Has Fallen"

It's like Die Hard...

In the White House!

The Story:

Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is a Secret Service agent on the President's (Aaron Eckhart) detail.  After a disastrous event, he removes himself off the detail and goes to push a desk at the Treasury Department.  Ah, but fate is a fickle mistress, and 18 months later, terrorists take over the White House, and only one man can save the day.

But since John McClane is a different franchise, Mike Banning will have to do!

:)

Directed by competent action-helmer Antoine Fuqua, this was the first of 2 big budget "White House attacked by terrorists" films.  Much like Armageddon and Deep Impact from a few years ago, sometimes studios have great minds thinking alike at the same time.

Sometimes it pays to be first, sometimes it simply pays to be better.

I'll let you know how the two Secret Service to the Rescue films fare head-to-head after I've seen the other, but for now...

Olympus Has Fallen is pretty decent action fare.

Much as I had hoped, Gerard Butler returns to his roots in all his butt-kicking glory.  Again, pigeon-holing this as a "Die Hard" rip-off is both fair and critical at the same time.  The setup begs for the comparison, so if you're going down that road, you have got to make your lead character likeable, believable, and a bit humourous doesn't hurt.

Well, the screenplay lets Butler down, as he's got the first 2 down, but really doesn't get to unleash any McClane-isms at the bad guy until the film is well into the third act.

The terrorists, hands-down, are quite brutal and believable.  Again, take the destruction of DC as you will, the plot is only as far-fetched as you want it to be.

The assembled cast is pretty impressive, it was nice to see Angela Bassett again, and Ashley Judd's extended cameo is thankless, yet necessary to the overall plot.  It's nice to see them both in a box-office hit again.

Plus, this film has the Morgan Freeman factor, so that makes it automatically better just by including him.  He does a great job as the President who's not the President.

It falls in the long line of Die Hard-ish movies that cannot escape the shadow of the original.

That said, it's a good attempt, and extremely watchable.

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I'd watch it again, and for a decent price, I'd pick it up and add it to the action pile.