Review of London Has Fallen (2016) by Quincytheodore — 05 Mar 2016
Rather implausible and predictable, but the bullets and knives rip mercilessly enough for visceral action delight.
From the previous title, or even this title, audience would have a clear idea of what's promised here. It's "save the president" themed action movie, sets in London. There are famous names actors to elevate the story, but it should be no surprise that the drama portion is average. They do succeed on advancing the action into full blown combat spectacle from continuous shoot-out and rapid brutal slashing.
Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart), the president of USA, has an obligation to attend the funeral of British Prime Minister. Along with his trusty bodyguard and soon-to-be part time dad, Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) he embarks in the trip, and as we all know it, London is eventually hit with terrorist attack. The story is plain it operates on a strict linear motion with barely any twist at all even though it has actors who worked on this genre before.
The main idea is the same patriotism and duty-bound motive, which is arguably worked slightly better than the predecessor, but it often becomes too flat in delivery. Some of the scenes feel too forced to create tension and it ends up too cliché in the process. Script doesn't produce any solid interaction as it relies on too much on misguided bravado and the comedy aspect only works partially. Furthermore, the intended twist is far from effective since it doesn't develop nicely, if any at all.
Fortunately, this is a definite step up action-wise. Chase scenes, melee brawls and gun fights are far more intense and better choreographed. It has the luxury of great continuous shots action in no shortage of speed and impact, almost similar to video game sequences. There's also the addition of CG for large scale attack, understandable since they have to present actual London under siege, though it's inferior to the psychical combat counterpart.
"London Has Fallen" is miles from the predecessor in term of action, but it might not be an appealing visit for those wanting complex narrative.
This review of London Has Fallen (2016) was written by Quincytheodore on 05 Mar 2016.
London Has Fallen has generally received mixed reviews.
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