by Jon Partridge
Back in 2013, Olympus Has Fallen brought the action/survival film back to our screens with a bang. It was an unexpectedly thrilling venture with a solid cast, impressive set pieces, and a not too heavy handed emotional tale interwoven with the impending nuclear armageddon. So what next? Well, you’ve already blown up the symbol of one country, so the next step would be to blow up the entire capitol city of another. Who else but us cheeky Brits to suffer the fallout for your entertainment?
LONDON HAS FALLEN Synopsis
When the British Prime Minster dies unexpectedly, Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) knows it is his duty to prep with Secret Service Director Lynne Jacobs (Angela Bassett) for them to accompany U.S. President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) to the state funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. With every powerful world leader set to attend, the funeral should be the most protected event on Earth. Yet within moments of arriving, heads of government are assassinated and London landmarks are attacked. Asher, Banning, and Jacobs are ambushed and retreat amidst a hail of gunfire and explosives. The devastated British capital goes into lockdown. Banning will stop at nothing to secure Asher’s safe return home. Back at the White House, Vice President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) races against time brainstorming with top advisors in the Situation Room to get those trapped in London a lifeline of support and a way out. Outnumbered and outgunned, Banning reaches out for help to an English MI6 agent (Charlotte Riley) who rightly trusts no one. Failure is not an option as they attempt to stop the criminals from carrying out the final phase of their revenge plan.
I will admit, with a tagline like “prepare for bloody hell” I wanted to love London has Fallen. I have a pun weakness. This is in spite of seeing The Big Smoke reduced to…well, a big smoke. It’s not hard to continue a film series of this type: play to the same formula, make things more explodey, add in a fresh round of wisecracks from the manly protagonist, and et voilà, sequel. However, LHF went about all these things in a rather lackluster way and, more pertinently, delivered a rather unbalanced feature.
The wanton destruction unleashed during the first act that sets things in motion is impressive no doubt. Landmarks fall, people flee, cups of tea are dropped, as a maelstrom of terror is unleashed. It’s akin to the fly over scene in the first film but severely ramped up. Bannon taking on the hordes in the aftermath of the sequence further excites. But after this, the film loses all momentum. London Has Fallen is the cinematic equivalent of premature ejaculation. It blows its load far too soon, meaning you awkwardly sit around thinking about it and waiting for something else to happen.
The rest of the film takes a step back, as the President and Banning become the hunted and try to survive the roaming bands of terrorists hunting them across a deserted London. It has the potential for scale, with the sprawling city of London at its disposal, but seems confined to alleys, safe houses, and a police command center. There was a worrying lack of pubs featured throughout; what gives? On top of this, it nestles into the formulaic, offering no surprises. It hits the beats you expect but ultimately feels a little soulless. Despite having a great cast, the majority of them are wasted, left to sit in a chair as the film meanders to its conclusion.
Terrorism is a sensitive topic, and while it’s going to be used for “entertainment” purposes and is the bedrock of these films; but even still, it feels somewhat ill-considered and xenophobic here. The film tries to offer a critique of drone warfare, or at least position it as the cause of the terrorist acts in the film, which granted paints many governments as culpable/villains in a way. But as it gets a little political it gets very clunky, and instead of offering up something smarter it descends into generalizations and drops in casually racist sentiments such as “send them back to Fuckheadistan.” The bad guys are so generic and painted in such a fear-mongering way that Newt Gingrich thinks the film is a textbook example of what could actually happen if perhaps we don’t vote for Trump.
London Has Fallen is an action packed movie which also is a sobering warning about the potential escalation of Islamic Supremacists efforts
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) June 9, 2016
Fuck those guys.
Anyway. Olympus Has Fallen drew its cast into the fray more successfully and made the danger seem more tangible. LHF lacks that investment. By and large it is two men limping through the backstreets of London with the occasional cut to a room full of politicians looking either bored or slightly worried. Die Hard persisted for 3 movies (there are THREE movies) because of the charm of Bruce Willis. Butler’s Mike Banning just doesn’t resonate in the same way. His flaws as a protagonist are highlighted more here than in the original film. If the filmmakers are insisting on having more things “fall” in the future, they need to find a way to let the franchise cut loose a little and add a little swagger.
THE PACKAGEThe quality of the transfer parallels the plot in a way. The opening act with all its explosions and excitement pops, detail is good, and colors are good. After this, when the film is set more in darkened alleys and rooms the quality seems to dip, or the flaws become more apparent. Detail, color, and depth are less defined.
The Making of London Has Fallen frames how the filmmakers approached the sequel, (apparently) taking it in a different direction from the original. It shows some behind the scenes detail of how some of the more impressive set pieces were filmed as well as showing some interviews with the cast and director. Guns, Knives & Explosives takes a closer look at the action portion of the film including the secret service training that Butler’s Mike Banning would have been subjected to. Both are mildly interesting but offer little depth to our insights of the film. More information on how London was used in filming and how much of the destruction was wrought would have been welcome.
The release includes the Blu-ray, DVD and a digital copy of the film.
THE BOTTOM LINELondon Has Fallen offers an impressive first act, both in terms of set pieces and intensity. After this the film loses its swagger, relying on a little “all American patriotism” rather than crafting any real plot to engage the viewer. As by the book action sequel goes it hits the right notes, but overall is unbalanced and lacks the smarts that could have made it more successful. London Has Fallen; just keep calm and watch something else instead.
London Has Fallen is available on Digital HD, DVD and Blu-ray from June 14th, 2016 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
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London Has Fallen [Blu-ray] | [DVD] | [Instant]