By: debbie lynn elias
Topical, timely, frightening, flag-waving inspiring, OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN is a non-stop explosive thriller that leaves you breathless! But, just how accepting will the American public be of a film that has North Korea attacking the US – in Washington, D.C. – taking the President, Vice-President and Secretary of Defense hostage – in the White House – and decimating the Washington Monument a la 9/11 by flying a plane into it; especially given the current political climate and North Korea’s recent direct threats of nuclear missile attacks on the United States? With someone like Gerard Butler’s Agent Mike Banning out there to serve, protect and defend and take back what’s ours, the flag waving and box office numbers should be unfurling in record numbers.
Special Agent Mike Banning is former lead agent on the presidential detail, protecting President Asher, the First Lady and First Son, the latter with whom Banning has an obviously tight bond. Unfortunately, due to a freak incident, Banning has been removed from the detail and is now reassigned as an agent in the Treasury Department.
As Banning is going about his now mundane day, kissing his doctor-wife goodbye, having coffee with his old partners, catching up on the Secret Service details and action everyone else is enjoying in the White House, a C-130 flies in low below the Virginia and DC radar ceiling, takes out two fighter jets, peppering civilians with thousands of rounds of gunfire and slamming into the Washington Monument. With teams scrambling on the air and ground, another group of terrorists has initiated a ground assault on the White House, code name OLYMPUS, just as a South Korean delegation arrives for meetings with Asher.
In a game of “who do you trust”, Kang, the South Korean premiere’s head of security, reveals himself to be the mastermind of this reign of terror and quickly shuttles Asher, the Vice President, Secretary of Defense and a myriad of other officials and staff personnel into the impenetrable bunker hidden deep beneath the White House. Seems that Kang wants the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Korean demilitarized zone and the removal of the Navy’s 7th Fleet from the area. To not comply leaves him with no alternative but to implode the United States upon itself using missiles located across the country. But that will require a game of Russian Roulette, as Kang needs specific codes from specific people to activate the nuclear sequencing. And just how does Kang know about the bunker and the codes and the U.S. defense system? It takes more than an outsider to pull off an attack from inside of the White House and who better than another former agent turned mercenary.
With black-ops instincts kicking into high gear, Banning leaps into action and heads to the White House where it falls on his shoulders to rescue the First Son, the President and the United States of America. With Banning our only man on the inside, who’s calling the shots on the outside? Now acting President, Speaker of the House Trumbull, along with Secret Service Director Jacobs and sadly, General Clegg, Head of the Joint Chiefs.
Gerard Butler, who is also producer on OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, is back in the saddle, perfectly cast as the heroic Mike Banning. Strong, capable, confident, intelligent. Where Butler falls short, however, and no fault on him as an actor but rather the editing are his hand-to-hand action sequences which are cut so poorly, we can’t see any faces clearly, thus short-changing or deluding the audience as to whether Butler was doing any of his own stunt work. What is undeniable, however, is Butler’s chemistry with Finley Jacobsen as First Son, Connor Asher. Talk about pride an charm, but more importantly, protective concern and respect for the young actor. The Butler and Jacobsen are far more endearing and relatable than Eckhart and Jacobsen.
Aaron Eckhart makes an “okay” President Asher; not as commanding or spectacular as Harrison Ford or Bill Pullman, but “okay.” As for Dylan McDermott as the traitorous Forbes, I didn’t buy it for a moment. McDermott just doesn’t sell the dark aspect of traitor.
Always outstanding is Rick Yune and here as the terrorist Park, he soars, adding powerful, controlled deliberateness to his calculated terrorist attack. A description of diabolical deliciousness pales in comparison to what Yune delivers on screen. (Although what the hell did make-up or color correction do to his lips making them Maybelline rosy-red?) Yune’s unwavering and unflinching calm is piercingly menacing, adding a level of unpredictability as to the intent and movement of the terrorist campaign, inching you ever forward in your seat everytime Yune is on-screen.
Thank God for Morgan Freeman who, although Speaker of the House and thus acting president, gives the film the much needed presidential authoritative decisiveness. His appearance as acting president is also a nice history lesson to folks on the passage of presidential power in a crisis. Likewise, as Secret Service Director Angela Bassett provides a strong presence and appears to be channeling Glenn Close’s VP in Air Force One. (Notable is that instead of the normally politically seen strand of white pearls on wives and female politicians, Bassett’s character is wearing black Tahitian pearls.) Robert Forster’s General Clegg comes off like a buffoon (the Nimzicki character in Independence Day ) which, to Forster’s credit, is so out of what we normally see from him that I have to give him props on the performance.
Melissa Leo works well in the role of the Defense Secretary and is fun to watch, but her captive bravado falls apart into unbefitting fear when not strapped to a railing next to the president. Although somewhat “melodramatic” and at times showing an almost naivete, Sean O’Bryan’s staffer Ray Monroe is extremely likeable. Delivering some well placed concern, and his own “shock and awe”, Monroe resonates as an everyday American in a position of power.
Written by first time scribes, Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, either luck and life will be on their side with this one or they will fall on the sword of global politics. With the story beats mimicking multiple Die Hard constructs, and specific plot points and even some dialogue clearly drawn on films Red Dawn, Air Force One, Murder At 1600, The American President and even Independence Day, Rothenberger and Benedikt deliver a mash-up of some of the best elements of each of these films. But while predictable and prescient, at no time does it detract from the ever-ratcheting tension and thrill of the cat and mouse game unfolding before our eyes.
When it comes to First Son, Connor, from the film’s opening at Camp David, you know what his role will be. Quickly set up in a car ride with an exchange between Banning and Connor that the boy knows how to escape and hide within the tunnels and hidden walls of the white House and that Banning knows how to find him and/or break-in or break-out if need be, we know who’s the first to be playing hide-and-seek. Essential plot points, but too obvious. Also, the discovery and rescue of Connor happens too early in the film. That should have been extended another 15-20 minutes into the story. Questionable is having the leaders of the United States roll-over so quickly in providing the missile launch codes. Would our leaders be so easy to give-in to torture and threats? I would like to think not.
A thoroughly enjoyable thrill ride, but I wanted more – more plot intricacies – especially. And while there are problems with the story structure and hackneyed, yet fun, action devices, it never detracts from the action and energy of this popcorn tent-pole from director Antoine Fuqua.
One of OLYMPUS’ strongest suits is not only the fast paced editing (although there are some editing issues in the hand to hand fight scenes), but Conrad Hall’s cinematography. Disappointing though are some very obvious CGI FX that look like old time movie-making of dangling planes on strings into the field of view. Tsk, Tsk in today’s world! Another technological problem – sound mixing. Sound mix is “awful beyond awful” so as to have the score so loud to drown out even artillery, not to mention dialogue. And with the score so loud and “in your face”, it feels like the music was trying to force me into a specific mindset and emotional direction. Unsettling and unlikeable. Sound design and score definitely try and “dumb down” the audience as if we can’t see for ourselves what’s unfolding on screen.
From a logistics level, I would be remiss not to question some of the “tactical” scenarios presented starting with a seeming inability of USAF fighters to scramble and get in the air within just a few minutes when danger results. America saw slow response after 9/11 and allegedly, response time for a situation like this has improved, yet a failure to demonstrate this on a fictional level may prove unsettling to the public – as will the plane flying through the Washington Monument. This is a post- 9/11 world and planes flying through US buildings really is still a taboo. The ease of infiltration into the White House under guise of being part of a peace contingent, beyond being lifted almost verbatim from Air Force One and the Russian extremists getting onto Air Force One, while thought provoking and threatening, raises questions to the average moviegoer about homeland security and our safety – especially given recent developments with North Korea. And yes, while OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN is a fictional film, given the geo-political climate of the world, these are things that if not consciously, at least subconsciously, will strike a chord within the public. Whether that chord is positive or negative remains to be seen.
Although OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN has some problems, Fuqua’s reliance on the popularity of Butler and Freeman and fast-paced action to carry the film and audience should carry the day and the box office. And while Hollywood presciently imitates life, in a film like OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, patriotism and the flag-waving red, white & blue is not only forgiving, but exhilarating for moviegoers both domestically and abroad.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Written by Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt.
Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Angela Bassett, Rick Yune, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Dylan McDermott
