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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Movie Review - Olympus Has Fallen


Olympus Has Fallen  $$$     



R
120 Minutes
Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart,  Rick Yune, Angela Bassett, and Morgan Freeman.
Director: Antoine Fuqua. 

 

            I enjoyed Die Hard. I enjoyed Under Siege, which is Die Hard on a ship. And I enjoyed Olympus Has Fallen, which is Die Hard at the White House. In fact, I think that this movie did a much better job with the Die Hard concept than the latest film in the actual franchise. (See my review for A Good Day to Die Hard.)
            Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) protects The President (Aaron Eckhart) and his family. At least he does until tragedy strikes the First Family. President Asher has the former special forces, Secret Services Agent reassigned to a desk job. Move forward several months and we find ourselves in the middle of a siege. Kang (Rick Yune) has captured the White House and is holding The President hostage in the high security bunker below.
            Without waiting for an invitation to the party, Banning launches a one man war against the terrorists who threaten the safety of not only the President, but the entire United States.
            As far as the story line goes, it’s Die Hard at the White House. If that sounds interesting to you, then you should enjoy watching it. I found most of the actual terrorist assault hard to believe – even for a movie. Once the film moved past that, the action and storyline were more believable.  There are copious amounts of violence and blood. The language is typical for an ‘R’ rated movie. Gerard Butler turns in a good performance as does the rest of the cast. And let’s face it; the movie has Morgan Freeman in it. That elevates the whole viewing experience. The action sequences flow well, but otherwise the sound and visual effects are pretty standard for an explosion-filled action movie.  
            This film earned a solid three Movie-Bucks. It connected pretty well on an emotional level, even inspiring a few patriotic moments for me. It loses half a movie buck for the unreasonable take over of the White House and another half movie buck for the obvious reliance on the standard Die Hard story line.  Catch this as a matinee or other discount showing and I think you will have a good time. 
 

                        Randy’s Rating System
 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.
$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.
$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.
$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.
0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

 

6 comments:

  1. I think the plot is pretty much just a rehash of "Sudden Death" where Jean-Claude Van Damme played the troubled hero who has to rescue people from a hockey arena during the Stanley Cup finals.

    I wonder though if Morgan Freeman's presence is why this movie succeeded last weekend while most every other action movie this year to this point had failed. (Even Die Hard 5 while it came in #1 for a week was essentially a failure with how little it made vs. expectations and its predecessors.)

    Anyway, I hear there's another White House Die Hard movie this summer, so I guess this one got in the door first.

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    1. To be fair to it, the acting was good, the story was reasonable, and the director was able to pull once or twice on the old heart strings - so to speak. Even if it is a Sudden Death rehash, it's a good one.

      Bottom line is that I recommend this movie to any of the action junkies. Just go expecting a Die Hard moment.

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  2. I love Die Hard. I will definitely have to go see this one with my son :)

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    Replies
    1. Let me know what you think of it when you do, please.

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  3. Mindless movie, but a very fun one that makes you almost feel like a kid again. Almost. Good review Randy.

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