Olympus Has Fallen

 

The trailer for Olympus Has Fallen was very appealing however my anticipation was short lived when I realised, due to my own stupidity, that this film did not star Channing Tatum.  It’s Armageddon and Deep Impact all over again.

PLOT:  After the President’s wife is killed in a car crash Special Agent Mike Branning (Gerard Butler) gets reassigned to a desk job away from the President.  Eighteen months later President Asher (Aaron Eckhart) is meeting with the South Korean Prime Minister when the White House is attacked by Kang, a North Korean Terrorist, and his foot-soldiers.  Before you can say White House Down Branning, who is the only living agent in Washington, must save America from a nuclear attack.  *insert Team America quote here*  END PLOT

The script consists of one sentence – North Korea is evil and the President is in danger.  The rest of the plot is doodles of carnage and explosions.

Olympus Has Fallen isn’t The West Wing. There is no insight into the relationship between North Korea and America.  This is brushed over lightly in favour of getting right down to business and as Gerard Butler heads the cast it is for the best.

Gerard Butler is an effective lead and handles the action sequences with ease.  It is a simple role but one he excels in.

The tone was very serious and there were no witty quips save for some angry Butler Bitching.  The strong performances of Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman and Melissa Leo give the film some acting credence.  Olympus Has Fallen needs to thank Zeus that the supporting cast was one of quality.

The action was frantic and had a decent mixture of explosions, gun fights and hand-to-hand combat.  The 15 rating meant that there were bloody head shots and quite a few fucks which were necessary.  It would have been ridiculous if Gerard Butler ran around the White House looking for fother mucking terrorists. 

Despite the high stakes there was next to no tension which is one of the films weakest aspects.  The subplot involving the President’s son was resolved quickly and played no part in the finale.  This was the only cliché left out of the generic script.

The running length is a surprising 120mins (IMDB) which is much longer than I expected as Olympus Has Fallen has all of the hallmarks of a 90min film.  I didn’t feel the time go by which is one of the biggest compliments I can give the film.

It will not make the top ten films of the year and will be forgotten by the time April is over but Olympus Has Fallen is a very solid cinema film.  It will not be watched again but for the 2hour duration is served its purpose very well.  It gets a 7/10.