War in the White House

[attach id="252708" size="medium"]Gerard Butler flexes his muscles to save the day in Olympus Has Fallen.[/attach]

Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
Certified: 16
Duration: 120 minutes
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Rick Yune, Dylan McDermott, Finley Jacobsen, Melissa Leo, Radha Mitchell, Robert Forster, Cole Hauser, Ashley Judd
KRS release

Gerard Butler is Mike Banning, a Secret Service agent who once had the full confidence of President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart). However, after an episode where the President’s wife (Ashley Judd) ended up dead, Mike does not remain on close terms with him and his son Connor (Finley Jacobsen). He is eventually transferred to a desk job at the Treasury.

His wife Leah (Radha Mitchell), a doctor, and his boss Lynn Jacobs (Angela Bassett) see how much this hits Mike hard. Suddenly life at the White House turns sour when North Korean terrorists launch an attack. The estate is entered into and mass killing ensues.

Olympus Has Fallen has enough tongue in cheek and chutzpah to carry it off

The President and vice president (Phil Austin), Secretary of Defence (Melissa Leo) and others are all whisked to safety. With them is also the South Korean Prime Minister who was on an official visit.

However, terrorist leader Kang (Rick Yune) has insider help from ex-Secret Service agent Dave Forbes (Dylan McDermott) and others and soon has the President and the others in his hands. Speaker of the House Alan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) has to take over and seek what to do with the crisis that is now in his lap.

Kang is attempting to get the code that will enable to shoot off nuclear missiles that are on American soil. Meanwhile, Mike starts his own mission: that of stopping the terrorists and regaining the President’s trust.

A B-movie/comic book premise, patriotic themes, muscle flexing and over-the-top visuals make Olympus Has Fallen a guilty pleasure. The only thing missing here is Bruce Willis as John McClane from the Die Hard franchise. Instead, we get a Gerard Butler who is in 300 action spectacular mode and makes for a steely hero who makes all the right decisions and mows down the bad guys as if they were made out of paper.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, of Training Day fame, Olympus Has Fallen continually overplays its hand and milks its ‘terrorists have invaded the White House’ theme to the max. Fuqua directs the film with a mix of grittiness, aplomb and cartoonish melodramatic tones. This intriguing scenario is given the roller-coaster ride treatment and it will be interesting to see what slant the Roland Emmerich-directed White House Down, being released later this summer, will take.

Butler plays it hard and fast, Freeman gives the film a noble front and Eckhart can start running for presidency after this film! On the other hand, Yune plays an all-round villain to the hilt.

Aimed fair and square at the same audience who enjoyed Die Hard (1988), Air Force One (1997) and In the Line of Fire (1993), Olympus Has Fallen has enough tongue in cheek and chutzpah to carry it off, provide excellent popcorn entertainment and come out grinning!