By Colm McCall
Whilst its predecessor Olympus Has Fallen (2013) was met with some positive feedback and financial success, for most movie goers it wasn’t a film that warranted a compulsory sequel. However, it had the prospect of being a fun action frenzy with the possibility of offering jaded movie fans an escape from the often dull doldrums of award season pretentiousness. This was never going to be a feature worthy of Oscar buzz or ground breaking cinematic hypothesises, thus it shouldn’t be considered in any such light.
Several of the Western world’s leaders must amass in London for the British Prime Minister’s state funeral service. Despite the parameter seemingly being subject to meticulous security measures, a large group of vengeful terrorists take over the city. Following a cornucopia of explosions and unnecessary bloodshed, the only Politian left standing is the American president Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart, The Dark Knight 2008). However, taking him down may prove a taller order than his adversaries ever imagined, as he has Special Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler, Law Abiding Citizen 2009) in his corner.
Despite being undeniably fun and exciting, there are problems with this film. In terms of the story, it contains even less originality than its precursor. One could suggest it’s a homage to previous action triumphs such as Die Hard (1988), but I think that would be excessively analytical and complementary. It seems new director Babak Najafi took the reins from Antoine Fuqua assuming the simple mantra of ‘if it isn’t broken don’t fix it’. He played it far too safe, really failing to make his mark in his first directorial outing outside his native Sweden.
The special effects and editing are ashamedly poor, relying overindulgently on computer game quality CGI, almost to the point where it is difficult to suspend one’s disbelief in the overall story. I really can’t put my finger on Hollywood’s desire to misuse these techniques to such an excruciatingly annoying extent. What baffled me even more so was coming to the realisation that the picture’s director hails from a background of Scandinavian filmmaking.
The acting on show, for the most part, cannot be greatly faulted. There is a reputable collective of performers employed to include the incomparable Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption 1994), Angela Bassett (What’s Love Got to Do with It 1993) and Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen 2009). But a major disadvantage to the potential achievable by these stars is the weak script. Some of the dialogue is so corny and exhaustedly clichéd, it really compounds one’s inability to truly become invested in this trite tale of unabashed American patriotism.
In terms of originality, London Has Fallen is definitely lacking. But it is paced well, and despite some harsh reviews, is reasonably entertaining. Probably not the most memorable movie one will see but it’s certainly watchable nonetheless.
London Has Fallen scores 6/10 on the MACmeter.
