P.O.T.U.S., I Love You

Olympus Has Fallen

** out of ****

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua

Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett and Melissa Leo

Running time: 118 minutes

Olympus Has Fallen is a Die Hard clone with some blood transfused from the plot of In the Line of Fire. Since those actioners came out 20 years or so ago, it is surprising that a merged rip-off of the two did not arrive sooner.

Instead, this film predates the release of another film with a similar story – White House Down from director Roland Emmerich. It would not surprise me if Olympus rushed its post-production to get a pole position on the schedule, especially since its CGI is lackluster and the news broadcasts that depict the onscreen events are fraught with spelling mistakes. Regardless, fine-tuning on these features would not eliminate the bland characters and retreaded plot elements.

The film’s John McClane surrogate is Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), a former friend and national security head for President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart). Banning abandoned his post working for Asher after the President’s car spun out of control during a low-visibility blizzard, plunging into an icy ravine with the First Lady (Ashley Judd), killing her. Both Banning and Asher blame themselves for her death.

Now working on a security detail for the Treasury, Banning returns to his old job to save the Commander in Chief when North Korean terrorists – quite improbably – evade satellite radar, bomb Washington D.C. and put the White House under siege.

The mastermind behind this plan, Kang (Rick Yune), poses as a South Korean diplomat and uses an alliance with a close aide of the President’s – also laughably improbable – to infiltrate the high-security underground fortress where the president and his staff hide.

When dozens of North Koreans posing as tourists burst through the White House gates, armed and dangerous – once again, improbably – Banning heads inside to pummel the bad guys and save President Asher before Kang can summon nuclear launch codes.

First-time screenwriters Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt offer little nuance or originality, including the groaner that the attack occurs on July 5. The plot advancements raise the stakes but are often wildly unbelievable: in the film’s universe, the White House is easily susceptible to a security breach. What good is having the world's two largest armies and billions of dollars in defence spending if the U.S. cannot track suspicious aircraft flying toward the nation's capital?

Furthermore, the dozens of terrorists that infiltrate the White House are unseen for long periods until the script needs them to fight Banning. Worse, the dialogue to get through these scenarios is inane, filled with grunts and shouted profanities.

Even though the story is outlandish, the proceedings are still predictable: when President Asher discovers a mole in his administration, he says, “I never pegged you as a traitor.” Unfortunately, many of the audience will probably see this backstabbing develop from one of the opening scenes.

Both Banning and Asher are noble without being particularly interesting. While Eckhart is miscast, lacking grit and charisma, Butler is solid, with the dramatic conviction and action chops to colour his character with more effort than the screenwriters do. Unfortunately, the characters are still dull; the only central characteristics they both share is an intense love for country and neglect for spending little time with loved ones.

In the meantime, the villain is hardly menacing, a far cry from the dastard nature of Alan Rickman or John Malkovich. The supporting cast (which includes Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster and Angela Bassett) has thankless parts, commenting on the gridlock at the White House and doing little else. It is a quick house payment for fine actors who deserve better.

Antoine Fuqua, still riding his Training Day success more than a decade later, has trouble deciding whether to pay homage to Die Hard or rip off that action classic. He does the former more often, framing the fight sequences with clarity and intercutting between the multiple locations with the same precision that McTiernan did with his 1988 classic.

However, the rookie screenwriters fail to recreate that film’s pathos and humour. Although the over-the-phone chatter between hero and villain, the calm, African-American support (Reginald VelJohnson then, Morgan Freeman here), and the exploding helicopter on the roof are stolen, Olympus Has Fallen still remains exciting, albeit careless and implausible, entertainment.