Three years ago, director Antoine Fuqua surprised us all by taking a low-expectations action story about terrorists taking the White House and turned it into a successful sleeper hit. Now Gerard Butler has returned as Mike Banning, Secret Service agent and bad-ass bestie of the President. This time, all hell breaks loose in London and Mike has to get the President to safety once again. How does this sequel measure up to the original?
Let me just say this: Olympus Has Fallen was not an Oscar contender. It was never in danger of being mentioned alongside Citizen Kane or the Godfather in cinephile circles. It was, however, one hell of a good time, hearkening back to the original Die Hard. With that said, I expected nothing more from the sequel and it's totally clear they knew what they were aiming for as well.
The film's setup is simple but brilliant in a sinister way. British Prime Minister dies. World leaders converge on London for the funeral and terrorists spring their elaborate trap. The movie doesn't spend too much time on story because in these movies, it only gets in the way. It rushes as quickly as possible to setup the conflict and then lets Gerard Butler do his thing. The hand-to-hand combat and gun play in London Has Fallen are just as fun to watch this time around and the kills are satisfying as ever. Unfortunately, the wide-shot visual effects stuff has looked better on network television than in this movie. So if really bad CGI turns you off, you'll cringe in this one.
One of the highlights of the first one was the chemistry between Banning and President Asher even with the limited amount of screen time they shared. London Has Fallen puts the whole movie on their chemistry as the pair works their way through the perils of terrorist-controlled London; and it works!
Overall, I can't like this one as much as the original but, like the first one, I thoroughly enjoyed it for what it is: a fun, ridiculous action flick.
No comments:
Post a Comment