London Has Fallen

Cannon Films presents The President's Man... I mean, Delta Force... no, not that either... London Has Fallen! A film in which Gerard Butler interrogates a hostage by stabbing him with a quarter-yard knife until he learns what he needs. In which the terrorists anticipate the Italian Prime Minister treating himself to a thirty-years-younger model atop Westminster, so they blow up the entire tower of the building just in case. A film where twenty super-equipped SAS soldiers tell a battered Butler running around in his shirt "Lead the way!". A work where most of the budget went on the quantity of special effects, not their quality. Where the protagonist kills 800 people with a gun and a knife and returns to his wife in dutiful labor. A film where Merkel breaks strict security measures to accept a flower from a snotty little girl, whereupon she is shot to pieces. In short, cathartic cinematic idiocy in the vein of the best of the 90s, after which I'll look back fondly on Avengers 35 from my old age. (07/28/2016)

The previous film was at least professionally shot, but its London sequel is missing decent action scenes and special effects that would look better than average video games. I won't mention the characters and actors purely out of decency, and it's terribly evident that London's streets are just backdrops that originated in the studio somewhere. It is, in short, immensely boring. And stupid. (11/20/2018)

Similar to the first one, except that Olympus Has Fallen was shot by a proven action director and the second one by no-name Babak Najafi, though it should be noted that he certainly didn't disgrace himself. Admittedly, the visuals are weaker, which clearly indicates that the budget wasn't the biggest and the director probably wasn't that trusted, but the ensemble cast handles it well and it doesn't take itself nearly as seriously as the first installment or even Air Force One. Harrison Ford was a more believable president than Aaron Eckhart, of course, but the banter between the main tandem is OK, and as long as you doesn't look for anything there, don't worry about realism, and don't get carried away by the decent action (the last big, approximately five-minute steadicam shootout with no cuts is great), it's impossible not to enjoy it in a fairly decent way. Plus, the subject of international terrorism is again more topical than ever. (06/05/2016)

The scheme is quite clear and given by the first film, but since there are a number of actors here that I personally like, led by Gerard Butler, who has slimmed down a bit, I still enjoyed this action movie, partly thanks to the great action scene at the end, where Mike rescues the president. Just simple action fun with a bit of patriotism. (05/24/2016)

Butler roolzz. London Has Fallen is a weaker little brother to a good part one. A conflict with Korea is lacking (both in reality and in the movie) and the terrorist villain isn’t demonic enough. Occasional serious moments rather subdue the bloody fun when Butler stabs his adversaries. Also the contrast between future dad and killer worse than the terrorists themselves is a little out of place here. But it’s fun. Fun for its naivety. The screenplay copies some B-movie hits from the nineties and gives them a new suit, but copies it too hastily, without caring whether it makes sense or not. But I would really welcome the next part with a better screenwriting team. I was smiling from ear to ear while watching. (04/19/2016)