U.S Secret Service agent Mike Banning is back by studio demand for the second installment of the more popular Olympus Has Fallen and boy is he still dropping bodies. He is as quick and fluid as Chuck Norris in The President's Man albeit less taciturn. Much less. Yes, he is especially funny (or at least that's what he thinks)and suave as the American fleet approaches London but his sense of humor reaches a level so cacophonous, it had better been lost in transit. It is no secret that Mike is the focal point of the film, not the president of the US, or the Chancellor of Germany, or the Queen. Hell, not even the movie itself. He is the plot and it begins and ends with him.
In the wake of the British prime ministers death, all of the world power in the hands of the most important and absurdly protected leaders converges in London for his funeral. It is said that he died of a heart attack in his sleep, but further investigation will confirm an assassination. It is during this event, the most heavily guarded as yet, that all hell breaks loose with the orchestrating hands of the archetypical bearded middle-eastern Yankee-hating mastermind. He is driven by the fact that the big bad West has claimed the life of his beloved daughter, and for that he's unleashed what may be one of history's most devastating terrorist attacks. No one is safe, except for anything that relates to the Star - Spangled Banner. That's right, anything American the bullets sidetrack.
Agent Mike Banning fights every fight and endures one explosion too many but if anyone escapes unscathed in this yarn, it's him. He handles armies of assailants who are armed to the teeth using a single handgun which he reloads at least once or twice, and karate chops the others with his bare hands. He is just like the recent Deadpool minus the spandex.
And is he ever jokey. Mike's one liners are so sporadic and twisted, he ought to depart from his duties as secret agent and opt for open mic Tuesday's. I'm guessing that's why he was composing that resignation letter at the beginning of the film. At one point the president of the United States asks him, as the two get trapped by terrorists, "What happens if you don't come back for me?" to which Mike answers after handing the commander-in-chief a gun, "Well, you're effed".
This movie raises more questions than it provides answers. For one, why would terrorists choose one of the most heavily guarded events to launch an attack on and kidnap the US president? Even more odd, we are told they assassinated the British Prime minister for this sole purpose; to unite all forces of security in the world in one place then attack them. That's like trying to kidnap a Kardashian at the met gala.
Why does every other person die but the president of the US? Is the only real target so hard to catch while everybody else is just collateral? It's like one of those alien invasion movies were only America is attacked and only America survives.
What were the motives of the traitor who betrayed his country other than the cheesy "the system is broken" plot hole deflector? How can all of London Scotland Yard be infiltrated by mercenaries? Will Agent Mike's newborn be a wisecracking chip off the old block? All these questions come to mind but few will be answered, if any.
London Has Fallen is a weak (but not terrible) successor to the first film and mediocre as a stand-alone. And if the first one was pro-America propaganda, this one doesn't stray any farther. It is quite watchable if you're generally into one-man shows where an individual kills 300 people with infinite ammunition a la Chuck Norris, and rescues people at the very last minute they were about to be executed. I'm referring to the last scene where the terrorist mastermind waits for agent Mike to come and save the president while holding a blade to his neck. Cliché much? No one kills the US president in a film on Mike's watch. If Gerald Butler was cast in a movie about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the story would probably end otherwise.
In the wake of the British prime ministers death, all of the world power in the hands of the most important and absurdly protected leaders converges in London for his funeral. It is said that he died of a heart attack in his sleep, but further investigation will confirm an assassination. It is during this event, the most heavily guarded as yet, that all hell breaks loose with the orchestrating hands of the archetypical bearded middle-eastern Yankee-hating mastermind. He is driven by the fact that the big bad West has claimed the life of his beloved daughter, and for that he's unleashed what may be one of history's most devastating terrorist attacks. No one is safe, except for anything that relates to the Star - Spangled Banner. That's right, anything American the bullets sidetrack.
Agent Mike Banning fights every fight and endures one explosion too many but if anyone escapes unscathed in this yarn, it's him. He handles armies of assailants who are armed to the teeth using a single handgun which he reloads at least once or twice, and karate chops the others with his bare hands. He is just like the recent Deadpool minus the spandex.
And is he ever jokey. Mike's one liners are so sporadic and twisted, he ought to depart from his duties as secret agent and opt for open mic Tuesday's. I'm guessing that's why he was composing that resignation letter at the beginning of the film. At one point the president of the United States asks him, as the two get trapped by terrorists, "What happens if you don't come back for me?" to which Mike answers after handing the commander-in-chief a gun, "Well, you're effed".
This movie raises more questions than it provides answers. For one, why would terrorists choose one of the most heavily guarded events to launch an attack on and kidnap the US president? Even more odd, we are told they assassinated the British Prime minister for this sole purpose; to unite all forces of security in the world in one place then attack them. That's like trying to kidnap a Kardashian at the met gala.
Why does every other person die but the president of the US? Is the only real target so hard to catch while everybody else is just collateral? It's like one of those alien invasion movies were only America is attacked and only America survives.
What were the motives of the traitor who betrayed his country other than the cheesy "the system is broken" plot hole deflector? How can all of London Scotland Yard be infiltrated by mercenaries? Will Agent Mike's newborn be a wisecracking chip off the old block? All these questions come to mind but few will be answered, if any.
London Has Fallen is a weak (but not terrible) successor to the first film and mediocre as a stand-alone. And if the first one was pro-America propaganda, this one doesn't stray any farther. It is quite watchable if you're generally into one-man shows where an individual kills 300 people with infinite ammunition a la Chuck Norris, and rescues people at the very last minute they were about to be executed. I'm referring to the last scene where the terrorist mastermind waits for agent Mike to come and save the president while holding a blade to his neck. Cliché much? No one kills the US president in a film on Mike's watch. If Gerald Butler was cast in a movie about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the story would probably end otherwise.