London Has Fallen

In 2013, there were two competing movies based on the same basic premise that was basically Die Hard in the White House. It was presumed that the first one to be released, Olympus Has Fallen, would be a smaller warm up to the bigger budget White House Down. To everyone's surprise, Olympus actually wound up the bigger hit. And now, almost exactly three years later, we have the follow-up London Has Fallen. Whereas the first film was riffing on Die Hard, this one is more or less riffing on Die Hard with a Vengeance. 

The British Prime Minister has died and President Benjamin Asher (played by Aaron Eckhart) has decided to attend the funeral along with several staff members and his ever trusted Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (played by Gerard Butler). Upon their arrival, all hell breaks loose as several countries Presidents and Prime Ministers are taken out at once (including Japan, Canada, France and Italy, all represented in only the simplest and most obvious of cliches). President Asher and Mike Banning narrowly escape an assault on their convoy in front of St. Paul's Cathedral where the funeral is being held. After an intense car chase, they are able to make it to an awaiting helicopter. However, shortly after taking off, the Helicopter is shot down and crashes in the middle of London. Banning and President Asher are left to their own devices as they try to get to safety as groups of violent terrorists systematically hunt them throughout the streets of London

The film at least tries to do something different for it's second time around and to a certain degree, it succeeds. The film is a throwback to the machismo dripping action movie blockbusters that went out of style as the 21st century dawned. For all the gunfire and the violence, this outing just is not able to recapture the tension and pathos that made Olympus Has Fallen such an effective and surprising thriller. Much of that has to be credited to that film's director, Antoine Fuqua, who sat out this sequel as was replaced with Babak Najafi. He does a fine job staging the action sequences and they are suitably exciting. The other problem is the movie is a bit on the predictable side. We know Banning is ultimately going to save the day and get the President to safety and the movie doesn't really find any ways to put that foregone conclusion into doubt or to really surprise us. The only real mystery or point of intrigue is who the mole is within British law enforcement that helped the terrorists carry out their evil deeds and even that is wrapped up more as an afterthought in a tacked on scene at the end, almost as if the filmmakers initially forgot about it.

The acting in the film is decent for this second go around. Both Aaron Eckhart and Gerard Butler do well in their roles and it was nice to see Eckhart getting a more active role in the second film after being basically a hostage in the first film. Butler once again shows he makes for a formidible action hero, playing Banning as a tough badass who is not afraid to go to some dark and brutal places in order to ensure that his friend and President reaches safety. Morgan Freeman likewise reprises his role from the first film and fulfills the same function as in the first film as the steady hand taking control back home and trying to control the situation the best he can. It's a role he can play in his sleep and has done so many other times. It's a reliably good performance, but nothing mind blowing. 

Overall, London Has Fallen is nothing special. It would be a reasonable way to pass a rainy (or in my case when I saw it, snowy) afternoon for action movie fans thirsting for something a little more hardcore than the PG-13 stuff we get today. In that context, it filled that spot rather nicely. But it's nothing worth running out to see right away.