Movie Review: Olympus Has Fallen

Imagine an unintentionally funny '90s era Die Hard video game where John McLaine is the head of security for the President of the United States of America and also the last man in the White House to stand against a terrorist threat and hostage situation

Olympus Has Fallen
A; Action
Dir: Antoine Fuqua
Cast: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart
**1/2

Olympus Has Fallen is exactly that movie. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, it is a large serving of guilty pleasure for action fans looking for brainless escapist fun. Fuqua presents a very ‘realistic’ portrayal of how the White House, one of the most secure locations in America could easily be taken over by Dr Evil from Austin Powers and be used as a hub to control the entire world.

Here we have villainous North Koreans who somehow steal an AC-130 gunship and walk surreptitiously into the White House with guns, then kidnap the President and gain access to every single nuclear weapon in the country. A badass bit of maneuvering, though not successful thanks to the one and only Mike Banning (Butler) who loves his country as much as his gun, and cares more for his President than for his wife.

As the terror threat rages on, bodies fly everywhere and the villains torture the POTUS to extract information, Banning sweeps quietly through the White House walls, punching North Koreans to death and picking up their weapons like in an FPS game. The President is played by Aaron Eckhart who exudes a ridiculous amount of sincerity and commitment in a role set in a boiling lava of cheese and schlocky cliches.

Fuqua throws in more ludicrous B-movie material than you can imagine. After a point even the filmmakers give up and proceed to directly rip off Die Hard u00a0a double agent instead of killing Banning, shares a cigarette with him like Hans Gruber, and then gets his ass handed to him after exposing himself.u00a0

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