Easter marks the start of the blockbuster campaign, and with summer around the corner it’s not the flip-flops, sun cream and picnics we’ve been craving. In cinema terms it is the time for men of iron, tank top wearing heroes, cool thing-imi gadgets and stuff generally getting blown up. Summer is action season, and so the race has begun. Unfortunately there’ve already been a few wobbles.
So far we’ve had It’s a Good Day to Die Hard – woeful action drivel, Oblivion – another overrated sci-fi from Mr Cruise and G.I.Joe surprisingly more popular than its predecessor. Olympus has Fallen (from the director of Training Day Antoine Fuqua) is the latest offering.
It’s the 5th July and banners and confetti litter the streets of Washington DC from a day of holiday celebrations. Having been released from duty after a tragic accident involving the President (Aaron Eckhart) and his family, Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is a shamed ex Secret Service agent now stuck in a treasury department office job. However when the Korean Deputy Prime Minister is invited to the White House for peace talks, North Korean terrorists take their opportunity to strike and launch a full-scale attack taking the President and any remaining staff hostage. Can Banning save the day and regain his credibility?
A great trailer and exciting movie posters offered an alternative for all the cinema goers looking for something other than animation and sequels; a promising plotline, star cast and an opportunity for a great original action film. Does it deliver? Sadly no.
Olympus Has Fallen
is purely a big disappointment. No originality, boring characters and
unsurprising clichéd villains. Such a shame as the opening action sequence and
the first ten minutes of the White House attack is great viewing. Then it
drifts into your same old run of the mill terrorist/kidnap/cat and mouse game. Butler
makes for a good leading man, but he hasn’t got much to work with on the
character front. As far as leading hero’s are concerned, Banning is pretty plain
and lacks charm, though this is not Butler’s fault as he does a good job with
that he’s given. None the less, John McClane he aint.’
There are also shonky special effects, especially with the aeroplane air attack shots. As special effects go it relies on the same old predictable explosions and martial art fight sequences while the scriptwriting is just too boring. There’s the traitor, the computer hacker, the child kidnap bait and even the down-and-out leading man has marriage problems. It doesn’t bring much originality to the table. Similarities between dated 90’s flicks Con Air and Air Force One are aplenty.
It also seems to be a little bit confused. It’s not really that much fun, and yet moments of maddening violence end up being comically funny. Should you be laughing or not? The violence itself is unoriginal and yet graphically nasty in other places.
Perhaps the underlying problem with Olympus is that the attack is delivered with such speed and ferocity and the terrorists take over their target too easily you miss all the finer details which is hard to process. Isn’t this supposed to be the most guarded building in the world, and yet how is it that a group of disguised tourists are able to blow holes through the gate fencing, drive trucks with tanker guns and are able to storm the building in so little time and previously undetected? The security staff are quite literally obliterated, making the whole event seem slightly unbelievable and inconceivable from the start. Want a more exciting, plausible and fun opening White House attack scene on film? Check out X-Men 2, while real jaw dropping action and violence in mass along with beautifully superb choreographed fight sequences are offered in last year’s fantastic The Raid. Made for a smidgen of the budget of Olympus and yet a far superior specimen of what proper fight action should be like.
It won’t be long to wait however should you desire more White House blood. The Day After Tomorrow director Roland Emmerich has his disaster flick White House Down in the pipeline.
VERDICT: * *
While not a disaster by far, there is nothing new to recommend here. What starts as a promising plotline slips into more predictable gibberish and clichéd characters and fight sequences disappoint. Butler makes for a good hero, but the characters and script let it down.
Olympus Has Fallen is out in cinemas now.
There are also shonky special effects, especially with the aeroplane air attack shots. As special effects go it relies on the same old predictable explosions and martial art fight sequences while the scriptwriting is just too boring. There’s the traitor, the computer hacker, the child kidnap bait and even the down-and-out leading man has marriage problems. It doesn’t bring much originality to the table. Similarities between dated 90’s flicks Con Air and Air Force One are aplenty.
It also seems to be a little bit confused. It’s not really that much fun, and yet moments of maddening violence end up being comically funny. Should you be laughing or not? The violence itself is unoriginal and yet graphically nasty in other places.
Perhaps the underlying problem with Olympus is that the attack is delivered with such speed and ferocity and the terrorists take over their target too easily you miss all the finer details which is hard to process. Isn’t this supposed to be the most guarded building in the world, and yet how is it that a group of disguised tourists are able to blow holes through the gate fencing, drive trucks with tanker guns and are able to storm the building in so little time and previously undetected? The security staff are quite literally obliterated, making the whole event seem slightly unbelievable and inconceivable from the start. Want a more exciting, plausible and fun opening White House attack scene on film? Check out X-Men 2, while real jaw dropping action and violence in mass along with beautifully superb choreographed fight sequences are offered in last year’s fantastic The Raid. Made for a smidgen of the budget of Olympus and yet a far superior specimen of what proper fight action should be like.
It won’t be long to wait however should you desire more White House blood. The Day After Tomorrow director Roland Emmerich has his disaster flick White House Down in the pipeline.
VERDICT: * *
While not a disaster by far, there is nothing new to recommend here. What starts as a promising plotline slips into more predictable gibberish and clichéd characters and fight sequences disappoint. Butler makes for a good hero, but the characters and script let it down.
Olympus Has Fallen is out in cinemas now.
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