OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN    3.0***

Watching this film brought back many of the best of the Die Hard memories, and yes everyone is saying that this is pretty much a Die Hard in the White House.. This film is actually a hell of a lot better the most recent disaster Die Hard #15 or whatever. It's like Gerard Butler, the star of Olympus, has really gotten  in touch with the true soul of Die Hard’s John McClane .This film is a quite a good action flick, despite its cliché moments, plot holes, and over-the-top play on patriotism.

 

Gerad Butler plays Mike Banning, a former U.S. Army Ranger turned Secret Service agent, once in charge of the Presidential Detail. Banning was close to President Benjamin, the First Lady and their son Connor. After a tragic car accident that results in the death of the First Lady, Banning is basically demoted to a desk job at the Treasury Department near the White House. One day a group of terrorists launch a brilliant and believable coordinated attack on the White House( code name: “Olympus” ) and take it and the President hostage after a bloody battle including many civilian deaths.. During the attack Banning manages to shot his way into the White House. With the White House under terrorist control, the President hostage, and U.S. forces powerless, it’s up to Mike Banning to take down the Terrorists from the inside, before they succeed in their terrifying plot to destroy the United States… sounds like Die Hard just with a different and very special building.

 

The action is intense, bloody, and unrelenting. Gerard Butler has this commanding presence that you'd expect from an action star. He plays Mike Banning as a hard working professional rather than falling into the so often seen disgraced hero looking for redemption role. He kicks ass, he cracks clever one liners, he’s human & bleeds and hurts, and ends up coming across quite believably as a reluctant hero  . We get very good performances from a great supporting cast led by Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, and Melissa Leo.

 

It's fast, it's loud, it's preposterous, and yet my wife and I enjoyed every minute of it. The film is chock-full of sensational and well-shot action sequences and special effects, but its biggest strength is its cohesion. From start to finish the plot( as unbelievable as it is at times) moves smoothly, and you can easily tell who the good guys and the bad guys are, and can totally root for the good guys.  

 

3.0***