London Has Fallen (2016)
Millennium Films
Directed by: Babak Najafi
Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Charlotte Riles, Melissa Leo
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The Good:
Gerard Butler returns in one of his best action roles next to his performance in 300. Butler clearly carries this film the entire way through. He consistently delivers cliché but great classic action-hero one-liners that provide just a pinch of humor to the film. His character is also not short on playing nice with the bad guys. His “kick butt and ask questions later” demeanor make him the best highlight of the film.
For this sequel the writers did a nice job of making the plot a little bit more realistic. (So you don’t have to worry about turning your brain completely off.) There were even a few unpredictable sequence of events that happen that, I think, help to ground the movie a little more. Even the villain was given a much more believable motive rather than just simply world domination or whatever.
Speaking of being grounded, even the action wasn’t unbelievably over the top. The car chases and the explosions were handled in an exciting, entertaining and suspenseful manner. The director, Babak Najafi, did a nice job with the camera work during some of the more intense scenes. I appreciated the unique camera-follow shots where it almost felt like you were running with Butler’s character during the crazy fight scenes.
The Bad:
Not sure what could really be said here. Some of the special effects for the explosions looked a little fake, but…you know…it was fake. So if that bothers you I guess you could consider it a “Bad”.
The Reason:
I personally really enjoyed London Has Fallen. One of the best things about this movie is that it doesn’t take itself seriously at all. It knows that it’s a pure action flick, and it doesn’t try to be anything more or less than that. There are guns, fights, explosions and cheap one-liners. All the things that action junkies love in action films. The only movie I could compare this to would be Die Hard. Gerard Butler is basically Bruce Willis from Die Hard (If John McClane was a secret service agent, instead of a New York city cop). Overall, I think this is a perfect movie for action movie lovers and it’s more than safe to watch in theaters or at home. I’d also say that this topped Olympus Has Fallen (Previous Review) as a sequel too. You definitely want to see THIS Gerard Butler film, and not his other movie flop, Gods of Egypt.
