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    Olympus Has Fallen

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    I was pleasantly surprised with “Olympus Has Fallen”. I knew ahead of time that it was basically going to be “Die Hard” in the White House, but sometimes you don’t mind getting the knock-off brand. Actually to be honest, I saw this film AFTER the sequel, “London Has Fallen”. That picture is generic, unmemorable and not all that exciting. I expected the same from the original but I was pleasantly surprised. This 2013 action film features a cool villain, an engaging protagonist and thanks to Antoine Fuqua’s direction, it feels tense throughout. It’s not perfect, but it’s far superior to the follow-up.

    Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) was the lead U. S. Secret Service agent assigned to protect President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) and his family. After a disastrous outing, he was demoted to desk duty. When a calculated attack on the White House led by Korean super terrorist Kang Yeonsak (Rick Yune) sees the entire building taken over by an organized and hostile military force, Banning must redeem himself by taking down the villains and saving the President all by himself.

    When the picture started I thought, “Here we go again”. This picture starts off rough. The characters are fine, as is the acting, but the special effects in this picture are bad. You can’t believe it was made in 2013 with a budget of $70 million! Specifically it’s the big special effects that are eyesores. Kang’s special battle plane, outside shots of civilians getting gunned down by the terrorist forces, helicopters, specially mounted weapons all look terrible. Thankfully the film gets better as it goes along for two reasons. Firstly, the big action sequences set outside of the White House are minimal until a big one near the end. Secondly, as the carnage outside subsides, you get to know the characters involved in this story.

    The plot here is not particularly original. Basically Banning has to sneak around the decimated White House, quietly taking out the invaders one at a time so he doesn’t get detected. You know there’s going to be a series of semi comedic exchanges between him and Kang where they taunt each other and when there’s about 15 minutes left, it’ll be time for them to go mano-y-mano with the life of the President on the line! What elevates the film to the point where I’ll give it a mild recommendation are the characters and the high stakes.

    I’m not going to say that Kang (that’s a great villain name by the way) is a villain so good he deserves to sit next to the likes of Khan, The Joker or Darth Vader but he’s a delight to hate. He’s a criminal mastermind with a perfectly orchestrated, multi-layer plan that for the most part goes off without a hitch. Frankly, he makes most movie terrorists look like amateurs. You have to admire the guy for putting together such a tight operation and seeing it through, but you loathe him because he’s absolutely ruthless. There’s nothing he won’t do to get what he wants: taking hostages, beating up women, threatening children and soiling his hands with the blood of the innocent. He, and by extension his crew are particularly vile when they perform the ultimate act of blasphemy: ripping the American flag from the roof of the President’s office and tossing it away like a dirty tissue! To combat this slime, this excuse for a man you wish you could tie up to a chair in order to cut out his tongue and feed them to your dog, you need a hero to cheer for. What I like about Banning is that he’s kind of a jerk. Don’t get me wrong, you like the man but he’s the kind of guy that could probably figure out a way to kill his enemies kick, but instead decides to practice weird kill moves. He’s always forcing people to stab themselves or blowing their brains out without even the courtesy of a one-liner as a warning! I bet you if he had had more time on his hands, he would have peed on the corpses of these terrorists to add insult to injury. I wouldn’t want to have lunch with the guy, but you can’t argue with his results.

    The film ends on a strong note by taking what are already pretty high stakes (with the President’s life on the line and such) and then cranking it up to 11. I don’t want to say what happens but that sudden realization that you haven’t seen anything yet, combined with that cathartic feeling you get when Banning terminates down one terrorist after another, it’s the kind of fun you want to get out of every action movie.

    In a way I’m glad I saw this picture before “London Has Fallen”. Yeah I missed out on some of the “emotional impact” of the relationships and the deaths, but this is so much better than the sequel. The close-combat action here is intense and the plot might be way out there, but at least it moves quickly enough that you can immerse yourself in the story. Combine that with a cool villain, some good performances from the leads, genuine tension… basically everything that’s absent from the sequel and you have a good time. I gave “London Has Fallen” a 2/5 and I would not have been that kind had I seen the original film first. I would have also pointed out how improbable the film would have been. If anything, Banning would be the U. S. President in the sequel and Asher would be his bodyguard. Now that’s a sequel I want to see! The U. S. President on the front line of the war on terror? I’ll be chanting “U-S-A! All the way home! ”

    Yeah it’s got some faults, ones that are hard to ignore like the recycled plot points and the spotty CGI. It gains them back by being genuinely suspenseful and engaging in its action sequences, particularly as it gets closer to the end. I was able to let go of how predictable the movie was turning out to be because it delivers what you want to see. I did not expect to like and certainly not recommend “Olympus Has Fallen” when I threw the DVD into my machine, but I’m happy to say that my first impressions were wrong and that it’s enjoyable to watch. (On DVD, March 20, 2016)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  22.3.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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