As one half of 2013′s dueling White House under siege films, Olympus Has Fallen is so patently absurd that it is borderline offensive. From the opening frame of the film, the story apparently takes place in a fictitious universe that lacks any common sense of terrorist attacks, tactical ability, or even the best way of not dying from automatic machine gun fire. But even though it is stupid enough to make your eyes bleed, this is way better than it has any right to be.
Playing out as an extended episode of 24 (which already did a 'terrorist-in-the-White-House arc) or an abandoned Die Hard script, Gerard Butler plays an amalgamation of every single bad-ass protagonist from every single action film from the past thirty years as the one Secret Service agent who can stop a few dozen terrorists after EVERY SINGLE OTHER AGENT is killed by terrorists raiding the White House. After a double cross or two, higher ups questioning the intel of the only guy who has managed not to die, and the villain's convoluted plan to stop American interference around the world, there is nothing here that is new or shocking to someone who has the slightest notion of action film tropes.
Yet, in spite of all of the other evidence towards it, Olympus Has Fallen is actually a pretty kick-ass film that makes up for the lack of any rational behavior by completely embracing the ridiculously implausible plot and hurling violence and death toward the audience with no regard to sensibilities. If you ever saw Commando, it's kind of like that except somehow more violent. Director Antoine Fuqua dares you to worry about how predictable and stupid this movie is and once things get going, you are far too engaged watching Butler single handedly destroy a small country worth of citizenry with a steely look and a 'not-fucking-around' demeanor.
The filmmakers even try to make up for the vapid story with an impressive roster of on-screen talent including Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, and Melissa Leo who all do remarkable considering the cliche-ridden nonsense they spout. All of the money spent on casting probably explains the reliance on Sy-Fy Channel worthy CGI or perhaps that everyone involved was so caught up in the ass-kicking on screen that they forgot. Either way, I wholeheartedly recommend this movie as long as you appreciate completely over-the-top violence and gore or can view this as an indictment of America's unrelenting need for crap blowing up (which I'm absolutely sure is not intentional).
Happy Independence Day!
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