Review of London Has Fallen (2016) by James Y — 17 Jun 2017
If "badness is a lack of anything good", then London is Fallen is a very bad film.
Bad cinematography, bad editing, bad writing, bad CGI.
Good cast and the lighting's OK, but because of the bad writing (and seemingly bad direction), it doesn't matter who the cast are - their talent's not allowed to come through.
I swear like a docker, but the swearing in this film is so awkwardly inserted and so pointless that it's groan-inducing. The shooting of action scenes is painfully basic on the level of a rushed mid-budget 80s movie. It's just shot, reverse shot over and over again - The Butler shoots his gun, the bad person falls down, back to Gerard.
The climactic scene at the end of the movie has absolutely no weight, because it's tier-one cliche. You know exactly what's going to happen, and it's not what the bad person planned! How surprising!
The CGI makes Sharknado look complex. I am being entirely serious, one pivotal CG moment near the end looks like a shot of an exploding miniature from Team America. It's egregious for a film with a budget of $60mn.
It has a lower budget than the previous film, can you tell? At least that was an interesting if brainless summer action flick. Clearly spent on the cast and the craft services table and nothing else.
The Warriors x Team America x Death Wish 3. Bad, bad, bad.
This review of London Has Fallen (2016) was written by James Y on 17 Jun 2017.
London Has Fallen has generally received mixed reviews.
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