Olympus Has Fallen
Back in the late ’90s, Hollywood seemed to get on a kick of releasing similarly-themed disaster movies at roughly the same time. “Dante’s Peak” vs. “Volcano” and “Deep Impact” vs. “Armageddon” were the most notable rivalries. Well, this year, they are at it again with this thriller and Roland Emmerich’s “White House Down.” When people say there are no original ideas left in Hollywood, this is exactly what they’re talking about.
We’ll have to wait until this summer to see if Emmerich’s film is worth seeing, but I caught up with “Olympus Has Fallen,” directed by “Training Day’s” Antoine Fuqua, last night, and while the story reeked of cliche and predictability, I have to say that I was suitably entertained by the film. We care about the characters, the premise is well-executed, and the trade-craft behind the film is rock-solid. Will I ever watch it again? Unlikely, but I’m glad I saw it once.
The film stars Gerard Butler as Mike Banning, a Secret Service agent who was on presidential detail until an accident where, when having to try and get either the president (Aaron Eckhart) or his wife (Ashley Judd) out of a limo getting ready to go into a frozen river, he is forced by protocol to get the president out, leaving the first lady to die. Now, Banning is having a rough time moving on, and finds himself on detail at the Treasury Department. Thankfully, he happens to be nearby when a group of North Korean terrorists, under the guise of South Korean military escort, take the President and some of his cabinet hostage in the White House. Banning manages to get into the besieged building, and, John McLaine-style, picks off bad guys one-by-one while being the only communication the Speaker of the House (Morgan Freeman), who is acting President with the main man and his VP hostages, has with a friendly on the inside.
The “Die Hard” reference makes sense, since that’s one of the most influential action films of all-time when it comes to constructing one of these movies, and Fuqua and his screenwriters do the formula proud (and certainly a Hell of a lot better than “A Good Day to Die Hard” did). And Butler has the right swagger for this type of role, with just enough vulnerability to make us remember why this type of character resonates with audiences. Yes, the film sometimes borders on the absurd, but it’s fun times for action movie fans, even if you don’t get anything too substantial back.
