Movie Review | Olympus Has Fallen

Olympus Has Fallen

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Cast: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angella Bassett

Time: 118 minutes

The new Gerard Butler starrer 'Olympus Has Fallen' is such a faithful retread of the 'Die Hard' formula that you keep waiting for Bruce Willis to show up in a white vest and yell: "Yippee ki yay copycats!"

Olympus Has Fallen - Review

"Olympus Has Fallen" is a satisfying action thriller as can be hoped for, with an irresistible premise and nothing but follow-through all the way to the finish. It's too derivative to be a classic - practically an uncredited remake of "Die Hard" - but such a work of craftsmanship as to command respect, at times even awe. It's that wonderful, totally unambitious yet satisfying thing, a really good movie. Let's just hope that there's nothing accurate about it and that they're all laughing it up in Washington, because if you believe "Olympus Has Fallen," it really wouldn't be all that difficult for terrorists to take over the White House. They would just need a fighter plane, 50 or so guys with automatic weapons and a handful of traitors to work the inside. Plus, the all-important element of surprise. Obviously, that would all take some doing, but the movie makes you feel that such a thing is at least possible. The film has the brilliance of a first-rate production. Director Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day") turns the whole invasion scene into an extended, wrenching sequence. The enemy plane flying low over Washington, blasting pedestrians with machine-gun fire, announces the movie's terms - it will pull no punches, and it's going to be bloody. Director Antoine Fuqua's latest film, Olympus Has Fallen follows former Secret Service operative Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) who is tasked with a sudden return to active duty – when a hostile force takes over the White House and lays ruin to Washington D.C. Abandoning his desk job at the treasury, Banning runs headlong into the fray, slipping inside the ravaged White House (codename: Olympus) before the terrorists cut-off outgoing communications. Out-manned and out-gunned, Banning coordinates with Speaker, and acting President, Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) along with Secret Service head (Angela Bassett) – quietly moving through the war-torn White House on a mission to free President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) as well as discover the terrorist group's true motivations. The fight for the White House is brutal and pulse-pounding, and there's no question that the sight of one of our defining structures getting defiled by bullets and missiles is disturbing on a primal level. Think "Die Hard" with a touch of "Air Force One": As in the latter movie, the president is held captive on his home turf. As in the former, a lone, capable good guy is in the building where the hostages have been taken. This time the building is the White House. The enemy is a North Korean terrorist, and the main hostage is the young and vigorous president of the United States (Aaron Eckhart). Gerard Butler plays Banning, a hardened Secret Service agent who never quits. How tough is Banning? He's the kind of guy who not only kills multiple henchmen but gets a big kick out of taunting the chief terrorist, Kang (Rick Yune) with wisecracks and threats. But wait ... That sounds familiar, a lot like Bruce Willis, doesn't it? Also like Willis in a famous scene from "Die Hard," Banning warns the authorities not to try to land helicopters on the roof, but do they listen? Such obvious sourcing keeps "Olympus Has Fallen" out of the classic pantheon. As Banning, Butler isn't as funny or as charming as Willis, but as one politician once said of another, he's likable enough. Butler's chief asset is his violence. It is easy to believe in his anger, and just as easy to believe that he would kill all those people. As action heroes go, next to Butler in this movie, Willis is a pacifist. Ashley Judd makes a sparkling first lady, and Melissa Leo is superb - and barely recognizable - as an angry and desperate secretary of defense. Morgan Freeman has a nice supporting turn as the tough-talking speaker of the House, who finds out that it's easier to talk tough when you have no power than it is to be tough when faced with life-and-death choices. Still, action movie fans will find a lot to like in Olympus Has Fallen – both for the movie it is, and the type of movie it clearly draws inspiration from. At a time when audiences seem to be saddled with the choice of sub-par acting and hard-"R" action, or brilliant acting and tame action, Olympus Has Fallen pairs a phenomenally talented cast with a director who isn't afraid to make the action in his films just as intense as the drama. As action movies go, 'Olympus Has Fallen' makes for a pretty entertaining watch; it beats recent installments of the 'Die Hard' franchise hands down. I'm going with three out of five. Delivers plenty bang for your buck.
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