White House Down
3/4
Starring: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Joey King, James Woods, Jason Clarke, Nicolas Wright, Richard Jenkins
Rated PG-13 for Prolonged Sequences of Action and Violence including Intense Gunfire and Explosions, Some Language and a Brief Sexual Image
I like Roland Emmerich's movies. "Independence Day" is one of the best disaster movies ever made (I saw it three times in the theater, including once while on vacation), and "The Day After Tomorrow" is grim but entertaining. Emmerich is the master of epic popcorn movies, although "White House Down" is probably the smallest scale movie he's done since "Stargate."
Before I go any further, it is impossible to avoid mentioning this year's other "White House under attack" movie, "Olympus Has Fallen." Emmerich's is better, mainly because he realizes that the story is ludicrous, and doesn't try to take things too seriously. The CGI is less cheesy and Channing Tatum is a better lead in this sort of thing than Gerard Butler.
John Cale (Tatum) is a bodyguard to the Speaker of the House Eli Raphelson (Richard Jenkins). He wants to be a member of the Secret Service assigned to protect President James Sawyer (Foxx), but in an interview with Carol Finnerty (Gyllenhaal) squashes that dream. That's when 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue gets attacked by a bunch of bad guys led by Emil Stenz (Clarke). Now it's up to Cale to save the President, take down the bad guys and rescue his daughter Emily (King), who was with him on a tour of the White House after his interview.
Putting it simply, "White House Down" is a mess with limited entertainment value, but I enjoyed myself. And with such a dreadful year of movies thus far, that's a relief. The plot meanders a lot, subplots are introduced then dropped, and some of the performances are flat. The film lacks focus, which for an action movie is crucial, since little else matters but the simplistic plot and the action sequences.
The acting varies. Channing Tatum is very likable as John Cale. While this isn't his best performance, it proves that he can carry a big budget action movie on his shoulders ("G.I. Joe" aside...). Jamie Foxx is also very good. People have been making a connection between Sawyer and Obama, but Foxx never attempts to ape our current president in any way. Sawyer is a consummate politician: charismatic, friendly and intelligent. It's always nice to see Maggie Gyllenhaal although she doesn't have much to do but talk to Cale through a headset. Everyone else is adequate at best, but James Woods is awful. Normally a terrific actor even in the most bizarre circumstances ("Hercules" and his semi-recurring role on "Family Guy" are two examples), Woods hams it ups so much that he hurts the film.
Emmerich seems to be a little lost with this script. This isn't his forte, and it shows. Still, the action scenes are fun and exciting, and I was gripping the armrest. The film is really closer to "The Rock" (particularly at the end) than anything else, except maybe "Die Hard."
This is not a perfect film, but for a movie year that has been this bad, it's going to satisfy those who crave new movies.
Starring: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Joey King, James Woods, Jason Clarke, Nicolas Wright, Richard Jenkins
Rated PG-13 for Prolonged Sequences of Action and Violence including Intense Gunfire and Explosions, Some Language and a Brief Sexual Image
I like Roland Emmerich's movies. "Independence Day" is one of the best disaster movies ever made (I saw it three times in the theater, including once while on vacation), and "The Day After Tomorrow" is grim but entertaining. Emmerich is the master of epic popcorn movies, although "White House Down" is probably the smallest scale movie he's done since "Stargate."
Before I go any further, it is impossible to avoid mentioning this year's other "White House under attack" movie, "Olympus Has Fallen." Emmerich's is better, mainly because he realizes that the story is ludicrous, and doesn't try to take things too seriously. The CGI is less cheesy and Channing Tatum is a better lead in this sort of thing than Gerard Butler.
John Cale (Tatum) is a bodyguard to the Speaker of the House Eli Raphelson (Richard Jenkins). He wants to be a member of the Secret Service assigned to protect President James Sawyer (Foxx), but in an interview with Carol Finnerty (Gyllenhaal) squashes that dream. That's when 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue gets attacked by a bunch of bad guys led by Emil Stenz (Clarke). Now it's up to Cale to save the President, take down the bad guys and rescue his daughter Emily (King), who was with him on a tour of the White House after his interview.
Putting it simply, "White House Down" is a mess with limited entertainment value, but I enjoyed myself. And with such a dreadful year of movies thus far, that's a relief. The plot meanders a lot, subplots are introduced then dropped, and some of the performances are flat. The film lacks focus, which for an action movie is crucial, since little else matters but the simplistic plot and the action sequences.
The acting varies. Channing Tatum is very likable as John Cale. While this isn't his best performance, it proves that he can carry a big budget action movie on his shoulders ("G.I. Joe" aside...). Jamie Foxx is also very good. People have been making a connection between Sawyer and Obama, but Foxx never attempts to ape our current president in any way. Sawyer is a consummate politician: charismatic, friendly and intelligent. It's always nice to see Maggie Gyllenhaal although she doesn't have much to do but talk to Cale through a headset. Everyone else is adequate at best, but James Woods is awful. Normally a terrific actor even in the most bizarre circumstances ("Hercules" and his semi-recurring role on "Family Guy" are two examples), Woods hams it ups so much that he hurts the film.
Emmerich seems to be a little lost with this script. This isn't his forte, and it shows. Still, the action scenes are fun and exciting, and I was gripping the armrest. The film is really closer to "The Rock" (particularly at the end) than anything else, except maybe "Die Hard."
This is not a perfect film, but for a movie year that has been this bad, it's going to satisfy those who crave new movies.
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