Olympus: London Has Fallen

An action packed lesson in poor exposition delivery guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat wondering whether you want to leave the cinema or not. Starring Liam Neeson’s character from Taken as American 007 protecting his teenage daughter, white Obama.

As far as action movies go, it doesn’t get much more standard than this. First make some vaguely foreign people the bad guys, put an American authority in danger, add captain courageous secret agent man and blow up some iconic landmarks. Voilà! Olympus has Fallen. Recycle this plot and adjust the film title. Now you have Olympus: London has Fallen.

This poster for 'V for Vendetta' looks great!

Again we are presented with Mike Banning, played by Gerard Butler, as the infinitely tough, skilled, incredibly paranoid, secret agent man. Hired to protect the POTUS at all costs, Mike is distracted from placing a disturbing number of cameras in an infants room when an expansive and well executed terrorist attack lands during “the most protected event on Earth”. The remainder of the film is masturbatory material for any gun toting Americans in the audience who ‘wan-ta get revenge on those there god damned terrorists’. The blatant plot recycling is, unfortunately, only the tip of this shit covered iceberg.

As a story unravels it becomes apparent to any writer that some key information needs to be conveyed across to the audience in order for the story to make sense. This is called delivering exposition, and there are two distinct approaches to this delivery. There is the delicate, loving approach; add a scar to a character here, display an odd obsession through subtle monologue there. It is the careful seduction of background story telling. It is a slower, more roundabout approach, but it builds intrigue and suspense and, more importantly, promotes an audiences investment in the story. Then there is the relentless, five-finger gangbang approach that Olympus takes. It’s not even just for necessary information; every single plot point this film gives is rammed down your throat during any scene containing Morgan Freeman and his merry band of round table militants. The film attempts to distract you with an explosion and some A list celebrity, while meanwhile its loading its next syringe of plot to be administered directly to your brain. Sure some people might be into the hard and fast approach, but it would be nice just once to be wooed before having to bite the pillow.

The spin cycle of the washing machine must have some serious issues, because the plot of ‘Olympus has fallen’ has developed some serious holes when it was pulled out to make this sequel. While I would anticipate the death of a Prime Minister being a large scale occasion, I would think that inviting world leaders from over 40 countries to be a extravagant. Nevertheless a quorum of over fifteen people is brought together to discuss the logistical nightmares that such an event would inherently bring. Once planned, it is described as “the most protected event on Earth”. I should mention at this point that a terrorist dressed as a paramedic pulls a military grade grenade launcher from a bag and proceeds to fire said firearm directly at the President during this "most protected event". The first lady also manages a full, heart warming conversation with Mike about how he should raise his newborn child, despite the fact she clearly has a piece of helicopter directly through her lung. Quick add some terrorists on motorbikes with assault rifles. Phew, thought someone might notice that abhorrent impossibility. Also her husband, the President, gives up caring about her in less than 30 seconds, though this isn't too dissimilar from any marriage. Ahhhhh explosion! Gunfire! More grenades! “This guy has more ammunition that the US. Army”. Great!

2012, Day after Tomorrow, Harry Potter or Olympus: London
has Fallen?

Given how little emotional investment I had in the film, it’s of little surprise that I began to draw parallels between it and other better films that I would rather be watching. Apart from the imagery of London’s landmarks being destroyed (see: 2012, V for Vendetta, Day After Tomorrow, etc.) there are also a couple of odd dialogue choices. One in particular that stood out was the line ”hear that?...that’s the sound of inevitability”. Almost a direct copy from the line in The Matrix delivered by Agent Smith to Neo in the train tunnel just before Neo does that sweet jump into back flip... Why am I watching this shitty film and not the Matrix again?

While it is nice to watch a film every now and then that requires (and actively encourages) no thought whatsoever, this one will always leave you wanting less. The continuous action fails to distract that you’ve already experienced this plot before, and it should upset you to know there is another sequel on the way...probably. It is incredibly difficult to be invested in this film, therefore I give it 5/10 films that i would rather be watching.