London Has Fallen (2016)
Directed by: Babak Najafi
Premise: A sequel to 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen.
In the midst of a state funeral, a massive terrorist attack is
unleashed on London. Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler)
must get the President of the United States (Aaron Eckhart) to safety.
What Works: There is one standout action sequence of London Has Fallen.
The climax of the movie involves a protracted shootout that’s mostly
captured in one sustained shot (presumably using some invisible edits)
and the sequence has some gritty action that the rest of the movie
lacks.
What Doesn’t: Although action movies are frequently
lumped together, there are subgenres of action and distinctions should
be made between them. In one category are popcorn titles like Die Hard and The Delta Force.
These kinds of action movies are descendants of classic westerns. They
have straightforward, black-and-white conflicts and there is an
implicit agreement between the filmmakers and the audience that the
bloodshed will be fun and not traumatizing. In another category are
action thrillers like Clear and Present Danger and First Blood.
These movies descend from the war film and they are much more serious,
have more complicated conflicts, and a different regard for violence.
This distinction is at the core of what’s wrong with London Has Fallen. The filmmakers can’t decide what kind of movie they are making and the story is a stupid jumble of incompatible pieces. London Has Fallen
opens with an American drone strike that lands in the middle of a
wedding and kills most of a family. This motivates the bride’s father,
who then becomes the lead villain and the architect of the London
attack. That setup is quite serious, like something out of a Tom Clancy
adaptation, and it establishes moral complexity. But from then on the
moviemakers aren’t interested in that, opting instead for what are
supposed to be fun action set pieces. This combination derails the
movie. It trivializes real life terrorism but it also prevents the
action of the movie from being any fun. In fact, London Has Fallen
doesn’t just ignore the complexity that it invokes but actively tries
to deny it. The American politicians of this movie acknowledge the fact
that their drone strike killed innocent people but they never show any
remorse about it and actively defend it. That’s where this movie
crosses over from being merely stupid to actively repugnant; whether
intentional or not, London Has Fallen defends collateral
damage and is a jingoist call for unrestrained global war. It’s also
another America-centric film. Many global leaders as well as countless
Londoners are killed in the terrorist siege but as this movie would
have it all that matters is whether the American president and his
bodyguard survive. Aside from all of its thematic problems, London Has Fallen
is just a bad movie and in many respects it is worse than its
predecessor. Viewers go to a film like this for the action scenes but
most of the set pieces of London Has Fallen are mediocre. The
chases and shootouts are unimaginatively shot and sloppily edited. The
special effects are really bad, especially the helicopter chase that
looks like the graphics of a fifteen year old video game. Night scenes
are filmed so murkily that’s hard to follow the action. The story is
rife with plot holes and other stupid and implausible developments.
Playing the lead, Gerard Butler’s character is both uninteresting and
odious. He’s given ludicrous dialogue that supposed to be witty but
just sounds idiotic, At one point he tortures someone for no reason at
all and we are invited to cheer him on. As the president, Aaron Eckhart
is wasted as is the supporting cast that includes Melissa Leo, Jackie
Earle Haley, Robert Forster, Angela Bassett, and Morgan Freeman.
Bottom Line: London Has Fallen is a really
awful movie. It goes well beyond being a lousy action picture. The
filmmakers want to be topical but their movie is just tacky.
Episode: #586 (March 13, 2016)