London Has Fallen
Director: Babak Najafi
Stars: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman
Duration: 99 mins
Class: 15
KRS Film Releasing Ltd

2013’s Olympus Has Fallen was a run-of-the-mill action thriller which duly passed the time without straining the brain cells. Middling reviews and a modest €160 million at the box office did not mark it as being particularly ripe for a sequel. But here it is anyway, the action, as the title cunningly suggests, moving to England’s capital.

Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is still the head of President Benjamin Asher’s (Aaron Eckhart) protection detail... and they find themselves once more in the eye of the storm.

This time, the president is in London with many other world leaders to attend the funeral of the British prime minister; a funeral that is interrupted by a sudden and violent full-blown attack on the dignitaries and the city by terrorists. Amid the violent mayhem that follows, it is up to Banning alone to get the president to safety.

Thus begins a humdrum actioner, which seems to serve the sole purpose of illustrating that it is the standards of action films which have, in fact, fallen. The film is nothing more than a series of sub-par kinetic sequences, tied together by a plot that is as thin as it is preposterous.

None of the four screenwriters Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt, Chad St John, and Christian Gudegast could come up with anything resembling narrative or character development. Their brief seems to have been: “we destroyed the White House last time round; this time let’s do London”, paving the way for an extended sequence of the city being blown to smithereens.

A plot that is as thin as it is preposterous

Clearly, no one got the memo that the novelty of seeing famous landmarks being destroyed wore off a few films ago. The CG effects used here seem terribly dated and only serve to show up the mediocrity of it all.

There is one mildly interesting sequence involving the president’s helicopter entourage coming under attack, as he and Banning tray to evade the terrorists, following the full-scale London attack.

But, once they are back on solid-ish ground, it all goes downhill, with scene after scene of the two running around London’s abandoned streets to get to an MI6 safe house – calling into question Banning’s decision to keep the president so exposed to the danger which lies on every corner. The plot would have us believe that London’s police, the military and the Queen’s guard have all been infiltrated by the terrorists and Banning can trust no-one. In the meantime, military honchos hunker down in bunkers watching things on big screens and doing not much else.

Any attempts to make this topical – the bad guy, a wanted arms dealer, is seeking to avenge a drone attack two years earlier on a family wedding, and his aim is to kidnap the president and subject him to a public beheading – is laughable, and the script is burdened by tedious dialogue.

Attempts at humour are peppered with mostly racist jibes, one-dimensional terrorists and American heroes. It’s not the first Hollywood movie to be so jingoistic; but this is notable for its blatant stereotyping and unfettered gleeful violence.

Most of it is meted out by Butler, as he dispenses the bad guys with remarkable ease while wearing the same pained grimace throughout. It’s a stiff rendition of a very wooden character – yet another bland role taken on by Butler, who sorely needs a hit. After making something out of the role first time round, Aaron Eckhart is here pretty much banished to the sidelines in what basically a sidekick part.

The considerable ensemble – many returning from Olympus – has even less to do. In a role he could do in his sleep Morgan Freeman plays Vice President Trumball (promoted from House Speaker in the last film). Come to think of it, so lacklustre is the role, Freeman probably wished he was asleep.

Angela Bassett was obviously too busy to hang around for the full film and one wonders why Melissa Leo, Robert Forster and Jackie Earle Hayley bothered to turn up... so brief and inconsequential are their roles.

Charlotte Riley makes for a solid MI6 agent, but has so little screen time she barely has the chance to register.

Mark Strong and Sascha Baron Cohen in Grimsby.

Also showing

Grimsby, Class: 15, KRS Film Releasing Ltd: Dimwitted Nobby (Sacha Baron Cohen) lives in an English fishing town with his loving girlfriend (Rebel Wilson) and nine children.

For the past 28 years, he’s been searching for his long-lost brother Sebastian (Mark Strong). When the two finally reunite, Nobby finds out that his sibling is a top MI6 agent who’s just uncovered a sinister plot. Wrongfully accused and on the run, Sebastian now realises that he needs Nobby’s help to save the world and prove his innocence.