Olympus Has Fallen
2/4
Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Rick Yune, Angela Bassett, Melissa Leo, Dylan McDermott, Finley Jacobsen, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser
Rated R for Strong Violence and Language Throughout
After watching "Olympus Has Fallen," I can guess the pitch to the studio with a fair amount of certainty what the pitch was: "Die Hard" meets "Air Force One." It's solid thinking, since both were highly successful action movies. Unfortunately, director Antoine Fuqua has taken elements of the aforementioned movies and cobbled them together in a less than satisfying result.
Mike Banning (Butler) is a trusted Secret Service agent assigned to protect President Benjamin Asher (Eckhart), Asher's wife Margaret (Ashley Judd in a cameo) and Asher's son Connor (Jacobsen). After a car accident claims Margaret's life, Banning is sent to the Treasury Department (despite the fact that everyone knew it wasn't his fault. Then, the White House is attacked by a group of highly trained soldiers, and Banning ends up being the only one who has a chance of taking back 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue before the President is killed. Or worse.
The script is built upon so many cliches that it has trouble finding time to include them all. It's overstuffed to the point where when one little subplot is resolved, it's done in such a quick and unsatisfying way that "perfunctory" is almost too kind. Although it's not nearly as crappy as Chuck Pfarrer's script for "Red Planet," it does bring that sci-fi bomb to mind.
The film also has the unfortunate tendency to waste the considerable talents of everyone on screen. Gerard Butler is miscast. His best qualities are his charm and amiability, although he can play intense characters, like in "Machine Gun Preacher." Butler tries to be both at the same time, and it doesn't really work. Aaron Eckhart is wasted. All he has to do is be tied up and tell his cabinet members to give up their part of a code (it's explained in the movie) to save their own necks. As wasted as Eckhart is, that doesn't come close to describing what happens to Morgan Freeman. The role of the Speaker of the House is so limp and generic that it's almost insulting to cast Freeman in it (one hopes that he was paid a lot of money). Still, Freeman coasts through the role, giving the most (okay, let's face it, the only) lackluster performance of his career. Rick Yune is also a weak villain, which is surprising because he was so chilling in "Ninja Assassin." Kang is meant to be vicious and in control, but he's really a pussy. Melissa Leo gives the best performance (she's unrecognizable as always) as the tough Secretary of Defense; I could feel her pain.
Antoine Fuqua is at least partly responsible for the lackluster quality of production. For one thing, "Olympus Has Fallen" is one of those movies whose special effects look like special effects. They're so fast moving and so cheesy that they're impossible to take seriously. What should be a harrowing and tough to watch opening sequence is actually corny and goofy. The film also lacks the claustrophobia necessary to make this kind of a movie work. What made "Air Force One," and to a lesser extent, "Die Hard," so exciting is that I felt like I was right there with James Marshall/John McClane on the plane/in Nakatomi Plaza. That didn't happen here.
There are some nice moments here and there, and I was never bored. But it had such potential. Maybe Channing Tatum's rescue of the White House will be better.
Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Rick Yune, Angela Bassett, Melissa Leo, Dylan McDermott, Finley Jacobsen, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser
Rated R for Strong Violence and Language Throughout
After watching "Olympus Has Fallen," I can guess the pitch to the studio with a fair amount of certainty what the pitch was: "Die Hard" meets "Air Force One." It's solid thinking, since both were highly successful action movies. Unfortunately, director Antoine Fuqua has taken elements of the aforementioned movies and cobbled them together in a less than satisfying result.
Mike Banning (Butler) is a trusted Secret Service agent assigned to protect President Benjamin Asher (Eckhart), Asher's wife Margaret (Ashley Judd in a cameo) and Asher's son Connor (Jacobsen). After a car accident claims Margaret's life, Banning is sent to the Treasury Department (despite the fact that everyone knew it wasn't his fault. Then, the White House is attacked by a group of highly trained soldiers, and Banning ends up being the only one who has a chance of taking back 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue before the President is killed. Or worse.
The script is built upon so many cliches that it has trouble finding time to include them all. It's overstuffed to the point where when one little subplot is resolved, it's done in such a quick and unsatisfying way that "perfunctory" is almost too kind. Although it's not nearly as crappy as Chuck Pfarrer's script for "Red Planet," it does bring that sci-fi bomb to mind.
The film also has the unfortunate tendency to waste the considerable talents of everyone on screen. Gerard Butler is miscast. His best qualities are his charm and amiability, although he can play intense characters, like in "Machine Gun Preacher." Butler tries to be both at the same time, and it doesn't really work. Aaron Eckhart is wasted. All he has to do is be tied up and tell his cabinet members to give up their part of a code (it's explained in the movie) to save their own necks. As wasted as Eckhart is, that doesn't come close to describing what happens to Morgan Freeman. The role of the Speaker of the House is so limp and generic that it's almost insulting to cast Freeman in it (one hopes that he was paid a lot of money). Still, Freeman coasts through the role, giving the most (okay, let's face it, the only) lackluster performance of his career. Rick Yune is also a weak villain, which is surprising because he was so chilling in "Ninja Assassin." Kang is meant to be vicious and in control, but he's really a pussy. Melissa Leo gives the best performance (she's unrecognizable as always) as the tough Secretary of Defense; I could feel her pain.
Antoine Fuqua is at least partly responsible for the lackluster quality of production. For one thing, "Olympus Has Fallen" is one of those movies whose special effects look like special effects. They're so fast moving and so cheesy that they're impossible to take seriously. What should be a harrowing and tough to watch opening sequence is actually corny and goofy. The film also lacks the claustrophobia necessary to make this kind of a movie work. What made "Air Force One," and to a lesser extent, "Die Hard," so exciting is that I felt like I was right there with James Marshall/John McClane on the plane/in Nakatomi Plaza. That didn't happen here.
There are some nice moments here and there, and I was never bored. But it had such potential. Maybe Channing Tatum's rescue of the White House will be better.
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