Olympus Has Fallen

Cast of Characters:
Mike Banning - Gerard Butler
President Benjamin Asher - Aaron Eckhart
Speaker of the House Allan Trumbull - Morgan Freeman
Lynne Jacobs - Angela Bassett
General Edward Clegg - Robert Forster
Agent Roma - Cole Hauser
Connor Asher - Finley Jacobson
Margaret Asher - Ashley Judd
Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan - Melissa Leo
Dave Forbes - Dylan McDermott
Leah Banning - Radha Mitchell
Kang Yeonsak - Rick Yune

Director - Antoine Fuqua
Screenplay - Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt
Rated R for strong violence and language throughout

      Since Training Day, back in 2001, director Antoine Fuqua has helmed some riveting action films over the past ten years. Lately, with films like Shooter and Brooklyn’s Finest, Fuqua has been on the start of what seems to be a slump. Now in 2013, his next project, Olympus Has Fallen, featuring an all-star cast that includes Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Academy Award winners Morgan Freeman and Melissa Leo, as well as well as Academy Award nominees Angela Bassett and Robert Forster, is released. Can Fuqua rekindle the thrills and intensity he brought with Training Day, Tears of the Sun, and King Arthur, or will the slump continue?

      Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is a former secret service agent, now working a Treasury Department desk job after a tragic accident occurred over a year ago. On the day President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) holds a meeting between him and the South Korean Prime Minister, the White House is taken over by a Korean guerrilla assault by both land and air. Both the president along with his vice president and Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan (Melissa Leo) are held hostage. Leading the assault is Kang Yeonsak (Rick Yune), a former North Korean terrorist. His plan is to get three disclosed access codes that will unlock the Cerberus - a system that would detonate all of America's nuclear weapons within their silos.

      Since Banning's desk job is within eyesight of the White House, he notices the attack and takes action, heading to the White House. Meanwhile both Lynne Jacobs (Angela Bassett), the head of the Secret Service and Army Chief of Staff General Edward Clegg (Robert Forster) notify Speaker of the House Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) that since both the president and vice president are unable to perform their duties in this time of crisis, by way of constitutional authority, he is now the acting president. Once Banning infiltrates the White House and gets contact with Speaker Trumbull, it is up to them both to try and bring down Kang and his band of terrorists.

      Although a fairly simplified plot (to the film's credit), I was looking forward to seeing this movie. It features an extraordinarily talented all-star cast, and a director that knows how to put together a film that can be thrilling and pulse pounding intense. While there are some great kill moments and some terrifically directed action sequences, the film is burdened by a weak script. It's not the story I have a problem with, it's the hokey dialogue. While some of the "one-liner" moments are meant to be funny, for every intentional laugh there's an unintentional one that comes with it. There are a few standout performances. Both Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart are solid as the two main leads. Angela Bassett, Dylan McDermott, and Robert Forster deliver some fine supporting performances, and when isn't Morgan Freeman a strong presence onscreen? Rick Yune, while not as devilishly charming or charismatic as Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber (I use the Die Hard reference since this film has already been portrayed as Die Hard in the White House), still manages to make a credible villain. It's Melissa Leo though that is awful. Don't get me wrong. I've loved Melissa Leo since I first saw her in Frozen River, and she earned every bit of the supporting actress Oscar she won for her role in The Fighter. That being said, her performance here is just a waste of a great actress on a one note character that just seems to moan and whine and grimace her way through what little lines that she has.

      It's always a shame when I can't end up giving a film I really wanna like a strong recommendation. Look at the cast and who's directing. There's absolutely no excuse this film couldn't have been an extremely entertaining "must see" action film. A re-write or two could've possibly fixed that. I can maybe justify saying rent it when it's available to if you're ever in the mood for a poor man's Die Hard that happens to contain some decent action and a few good performances. Some other stronger films featuring Gerard Bulter to throw in with that rental would be 300, RocknRolla, or Machine Gun Preacher. I'm hoping someday we'll get another Antoine Fuqua film where I can say "Definitely go and see this!" I know he has it in him to make that happen. As for this film, the most I can give is maybe a mild recommendation. I give Olympus Has Fallen a C+ (★★½).

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