Olympus Has Fallen

Gerard Butler has come back to life! Well, he hasn't been gone, but it's been a while since I last saw a good flick of his. Arguably, the use of the word 'good' merits some explanation. Olympus Has Fallen is one of those movies where it doesn't bring anything new to the genre.I didn't expect anything from this except for all the action sequences. It has a lot of cliches, and those last minute moments where it seems like there is no hope? It's all there. It was made to entertain, preferably with all the fighting and explosives a movie can bring in. If you're up for a relaxing afternoon, this would be a movie to watch.

Mike Bannings was a secret service agent to President Asher, until an unfortunate accident caused his demotion down to Treasury. What was first a delegate visit from the South Korean Prime Minister, it urgently turned to a hostile takeover with a lot of bloodbath. Yet our hero survived all that, managed to infiltrate the White House and ultimately became the only hope for saving the President (and the country). Very familiar, don't you think? I think so too.

I didn't have any expectations when I watched this, and besides the basic premise, I wasn't disappointed. It's flawed and some parts are unbelievable, bordering absurdity. If you've seen it, did you see the exaggerated gun shooting and blood splattering? It really was all action all the time. Even the gun fighting was unbelievable. It wasn't just the guerrilla fighting, we also get to see the tension in the bunker, as the hostages are killed one by one. The date when the movie was set felt symbolic though, as it was set on July 5, just after Independence day.

I've only liked Gerard Butler in one movie, and after that he's been in a slew of really bad films. He did hold a solid ground on his performance, as far as action movies are concerned. He seemed fit for the role. Morgan Freeman can do no wrong in my book, he wasn't as much on screen as opposed to the other two. Aaron Eckhart was a bit iffy, considering he's almost always playing the good guy.

The movie was nothing that I haven't seen before, yet I wouldn't dismiss this just yet. I thought that the absurdity of parts made the movie work. It's not trying to be a big blockbuster, and just delivered minutes of shooting and scouring around the house. It doesn't add anything new to the genre, nor is it a game changer, but in terms of White House movies during the year, this came out on the better end. It was just pure entertainment. There are times when you don't need a complicated back story, or something to give spirit to the movie, just pure explosions and fighting scenes that keeps the attention of the viewers throughout.



Final Word: It was entertaining, though nothing special. It did merit a sequel though.


Cast: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Year: 2013