London has Fallen

Synopsis

Mike Banning, Gerard Butler, continues to save the President after an attack on all the world leaders at the funeral of the British Prime Minister.

Review

I have no idea how this movie was given a 25% from Rotten Tomatoes and audiences gave it a 50%. What this movie and Olympus Has Fallen do really well is setup the story with action that pulls at your heart strings. I mentioned in the review for Olympus has Fallen that watching it hits me because of what the monuments represent. Watching this, I understand and can empathize that veterans and patriots of the UK would feel the same way. That blitz of action toward symbols of the west is what the bad guy was trying to achieve and what the director/writers accomplished.

Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart are outstanding again. You can see the chemistry of their work relationship as well as the characters relationship. With that, I think most people did a really good job. The supporting cast does a great job even when their parts are minimal at best.

This movie is a perfect example of what a sequel should be as far as story. You see the growth of relationships, in this movie it is Morgan Freeman's character becoming Vice President when last movie he was against the President as well as Gerard and Aaron being closer even with the death of his wife. You also see the the growth of the world in small ways. It is done very well.

My Rating

While I enjoy this movie for its action and witty comments, the CGI has not aged well at all. I also want to talk about one of the reviews from critics about it on Rotten Tomatoes. "London Has Fallen traps a talented cast -- and all who dare to see it -- in a mid-1990s basic-cable nightmare of a film loaded with xenophobia and threadbare action-thriller clichés." First off, there isn't any xenophobia in this movie. In fact, it shows one of the biggest issues with the way the War on Terror was conducted. Drones targeting individuals without consideration for collateral damage. I can tell you from experience, that those drone attacks created more enemies than it killed. There is a reason that you see that in most modern movies about that war. Bannon in this movie makes a comment to one of the bad guys about "One of the things you people don't seem to understand is that we are not a flag, a person..." and I am guessing that this is where the xenophobia comment comes from, because it really is the only thing about a group of people that is ever pointed at other than the big bad saying the west is evil. Let alone, that statement is a resident feeling for most service members who spent part of their life losing friends and fighting for the protection of a nation. Not the President, Not THE Flag, but for the people.
I will say that Gerard is barely hurt in this movie and is basically protected from everything via Plot Armor and that is a critique that I have as well, but these "action-thriller cliches" are what make this movie good. These same critics didn't torch a worse movie, Without Remorse , like they did this one and it shows that the cliches are ok for some things and not others. This American action movie is an 8 all day.

Parental Rating

Excessive language that would make my mom and dad blush. I think the amount of F-bombs was more than required to get the point across, but in line with the occupation. Blood and violence are an obvious in this "action-thriller cliche" filled movie. There is no sex or nudity however, so that is good. The language is a lot and I think that would push my dad out of approving this movie. There is also a short scene of torture before death that I think my mom would run away from. Rejected by both.

Want to get a hold of me?
Email | [email protected]