Hollywood has a habit of spitting out action movies at will. Antoine Fuqua, the director, with movies such as Training Day and Shooter under his belt, has made a run of the mill action thriller. The premise is promising as terrorists capture the White House and hold the President of the United States as hostage. There are two ways of handling this premise - the Michael Bay action approach or the realistic approach. The movie takes the path usually traveled by and we have a typical Hollywood action movie.
The movie starts off interestingly, but in a way we have come to expect of movies like these. The usual introductions and back stories are all wrapped up and shown to us with a neat little bow to tie it up. The action sequences are the usual action affair, but they keep us entertained with enough variety here and there. The CG sequences are slightly unrealistic but they do their job. So, the movie starts off simple enough with Gerard Butler as Mike Banning, the ex-Secret Service agent who finds himself amidst the chaos at the White House. The President(played by Aaron Eckhart) is held hostage at a bunker under the White House by the terrorists as they plan to self destruct America into smithereens. Mike Banning uses his intricate knowledge of the White House, with the backing of Speaker Trumbull(the acting President played by Morgan Freeman. He makes anything awesome.) and his Secret Service agent skills to infiltrate the captured White House and sabotage the terrorist's plans. Others in the movie namely Radha Mitchell and Melissa Leo have very less screen time. They do a functional job of whatever time they are given.
The screenplay is fast paced and tries to make us feel the gravity of seeing the White House being captured. Although a commendable job is done in showing the capture of the White House, it still has a few logical loopholes. Gerard Butler has the physique to pull off the super one-man-army deal which the movie almost becomes. Although the nation is saved because of him, it would not have been possible without the help of Speaker Trumbull who pitches in with directives and commands. The National Guard and Army take a back seat because of the hostage situation. Yet, one finds it hard to believe that such an incident could really happen and that these are the course of events that would follow. Since it is a typical Hollywood action movie, logic, as usual takes a back seat. The cliches are peppered here and there but we can see that they have tried to avoid it at certain junctures. The cheesy and witty dialogues may make you laugh if you can see it coming. A lot of the scenes take a predictable turn but you maybe surprised at some points. It is a point to note that the movie shows a lot of brutality and bloodshed and may not be suited for someone who cannot stand the sight of blood. Believe me, there is a lot of blood but not to the levels of quirkiness seen in Tarantino movies.
The terrorists, who are the Koreans this time, are vengeful against America and their motives are typical. You wouldn't be blamed if you thought the motives for terrorizing America are becoming weaker by the movie. Aaron Eckhart plays as the admirable President Benjamin Asher. The characterization of the President refers to every page of the manual "How to act as the President of the USA" and adheres to it with fervor interest. I do not mean that Aaron Eckhart doesn't do a decent job. In fact he does do a decent job but he fails to set himself aside from the previous "movie Presidents". As with movies which have the tone "America, hell yeah!", the movie ends on a well anticipated happy and cheery note.
This is an action movie with an interesting premise. It is sad that nothing more was made of the promising premise. If you are fan of fast paced action movies or Gerard Butler or the notion of seeing Morgan Freeman as acting President, then this movie is for you. If you are expecting a logical movie with a realistic response to the given premise of the movie, then I would recommend you to see elsewhere.
The screenplay is fast paced and tries to make us feel the gravity of seeing the White House being captured. Although a commendable job is done in showing the capture of the White House, it still has a few logical loopholes. Gerard Butler has the physique to pull off the super one-man-army deal which the movie almost becomes. Although the nation is saved because of him, it would not have been possible without the help of Speaker Trumbull who pitches in with directives and commands. The National Guard and Army take a back seat because of the hostage situation. Yet, one finds it hard to believe that such an incident could really happen and that these are the course of events that would follow. Since it is a typical Hollywood action movie, logic, as usual takes a back seat. The cliches are peppered here and there but we can see that they have tried to avoid it at certain junctures. The cheesy and witty dialogues may make you laugh if you can see it coming. A lot of the scenes take a predictable turn but you maybe surprised at some points. It is a point to note that the movie shows a lot of brutality and bloodshed and may not be suited for someone who cannot stand the sight of blood. Believe me, there is a lot of blood but not to the levels of quirkiness seen in Tarantino movies.
The terrorists, who are the Koreans this time, are vengeful against America and their motives are typical. You wouldn't be blamed if you thought the motives for terrorizing America are becoming weaker by the movie. Aaron Eckhart plays as the admirable President Benjamin Asher. The characterization of the President refers to every page of the manual "How to act as the President of the USA" and adheres to it with fervor interest. I do not mean that Aaron Eckhart doesn't do a decent job. In fact he does do a decent job but he fails to set himself aside from the previous "movie Presidents". As with movies which have the tone "America, hell yeah!", the movie ends on a well anticipated happy and cheery note.
This is an action movie with an interesting premise. It is sad that nothing more was made of the promising premise. If you are fan of fast paced action movies or Gerard Butler or the notion of seeing Morgan Freeman as acting President, then this movie is for you. If you are expecting a logical movie with a realistic response to the given premise of the movie, then I would recommend you to see elsewhere.
