Review of Olympus Has Fallen (2013) by Nesbitt10 — 11 Aug 2013

"Olympus Has Fallen" exhausts itself even without the burden of originality. The White House is under attack, and John McClain still isn't available he is still recouping from his recent disastrous installment to the "Die Hard" franchise. Everything in this movie, credited to writers Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, is seemingly directly taken from the action classic "Die Hard" (1988). Having a man on the inside is one thing but to the bumbling idiots in authority, the rooftop adventure gone bad, the hero mistaking a bad guy for a good guy... it's a hostage movie alright, a storyline almost completely lifted from the 1988 classic starring Bruce Willis.

A group of North Korean militants launch an attack on Washington D.C. and manage to take over the White House. President Asher (Aaron Eckhart), the Vice President (Phil Austin), and the Secretary of Defense (Melissa Leo), are held hostage in the emergency bunker beneath the now ruined White House. The militants' leader Kang (Rick Yune) demands now acting President Trumbull (Morgan Freeman), for the withdrawal of American troops from the DMZ and the Seventh Fleet from the far Pacific.

But Kang hasn't reckoned with Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), a Secret Service agent who was reassigned to a desk job months earlier after failing to save the life of the First Lady (Ashley Judd, in what amounts to a little more than a cameo) in an auto accident. He witnesses the assault on the White House and gets involved, eventually winding up as the sole defender inside the White House. As a former Navy Seal, he systematically eliminates most of the remaining terrorists by breaking more necks than I could count, while also using a gun, a knife, and his mighty fists of patriotism. Banning is the ultimate one-man army who easily puts Jon McClain to shame.

There are too many ridiculous plot elements to call into question, and it would take away from the flag-waving premise of the movie. The only point is to put Butler in situations where he can kick some serious terrorist ass for truth, justice, and protecting the American way. To be fair, the action is well filmed, but also quite violent and graphic while mysteriously lacking any real blood or gore.

Envision grounding "Air Force One," moving it inside of The White House, giving it the story of "Die Hard," with the laughable characters and ridiculous screenplay of "Red Dawn," and presto, I give you "Olympus Has Fallen." It's dreadful, noisy, and ludicrous, not even worth the effort to assess it for future guilty pleasure enjoyment.