Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

Slavoj Žižek famously remarked that September 11th had been the real-world equivalent of the disaster fantasies gleefully played out in American cinema for decades before – our secret cultural dream had come to life as a horrible nightmare.  If that’s the case, I’m concerned about what that bodes for Olympus Has Fallen, a serviceable if not entirely memorable political disaster thriller.

Essentially 24 by way of Die Hard, Olympus Has Fallen finds the White House under siege – then occupied – by North Korean forces who take the President (Aaron Eckhart) hostage.  With the Speaker of the House (Morgan Freeman) in charge, the United States government is about to accede to the terrorists’ demands before they realize they still have a man on the inside – former Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), who vows to save the President.

This movie seemed to come out of nowhere for me; I hadn’t seen any trailers until the week before it opened, and the only thing I thought I knew was, “Isn’t Channing Tatum supposed to be in that?”  (Turns out he’s doing White House Down, set to release in June.  Time will tell which one is the better variation on the theme.)  But when I heard Antoine Fuqua was directing, all I had to do was remember Training Day before plunking down in the second row.  Looking back on Fuqua’s filmography, Olympus Has Fallen is much closer in tone to his more action-y King Arthur and Shooter than the tense thriller Training Day, which perhaps owes more to Denzel Washington’s astounding performance.  But Fuqua’s ability to direct the heck out of an action sequence serves Olympus well; the initial takeover scene is dreadful in that it’s full of the dread that accompanies the inevitable.  While the film slightly overplays the patriotism card by opening and closing on an American flag, the sight of the White House under siege ought to dishearten American filmgoers, and Fuqua’s direction highlights the simplicity of its vulnerability, recalling similarly unflinching terrorist attacks from 24.

But here’s the thing about comparing Olympus Has Fallen to other entries in the political action/thriller genre – this isn’t a terribly original movie.  You’ve seen a lot of iterations of this plot before, you can telegraph most of the main beats thanks to some unsubtle foreshadowing, and to be perfectly honest the film won’t live up to some comparisons.  For example, the equally hokey Air Force One, regardless of the special place it holds in my heart, is more personal and therefore more compelling, and it’s tough to top Die Hard when it comes to movies about a man alone in occupied territory.  But if originality is the biggest misstep in Olympus Has Fallen, fine – it does well within the genre, its action sequences are fine, and its protagonist is highly engaging.

Morgan Freeman is stellar as always, especially when he grapples with the gravitas of his new responsibility.  I didn’t entirely buy the idea that he’s ill-equipped for the job, as the movie seems to insinuate; wisely, though, the film doesn’t stress this issue, especially because Freeman’s played presidential before, to some acclaim.  Eckhart continues channeling that Americanness-by-Redford, his snarling defiance of the terrorists recalling the best of his role as Harvey Dent.  But it’s Butler’s show, by far, and he’s such a good action hero that you’ll never ask yourself, “Why didn’t they get Bruce Willis?”  (From what I hear, maybe this should have been the latest Die Hard?)  Between this and 300, let’s give Butler the “next action hero” crown; he’s got the physicality down, he has the relatable everyman features, and he’s the master at those snide one-liners.

At the end of the day, though, those one-liners probably won’t stick in your head.  Olympus Has Fallen won’t be making my BluRay wish list come fall, but if I see it on cable in between bouts of channel-surfing, I’m sure I’ll stop back in.  Though it shares a few cast members, Olympus Has Fallen is no Dark Knight Rises – it is, however, enjoyable enough.

Olympus Has Fallen is rated R “for strong violence and language throughout.”  This is a pretty bloody flick with a lot of shootings and stabbings, peppered with salty language in F-sharp.