Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Rating: I Liked It
I wasn't all that excited to see this movie until after I saw the trailer. Even having seen a few good action movies lately, I have really been wanting something that was different. It was different from other current titles that are out there, but it was oddly similar as well.
I'd like to preface this by saying that my next comment is in no way meant to be negative. The familiarity of this movie comes from having grown up with and watched the entire Die Hard series. It really was like Die Hard in the White House. I'm sure there's probably some clever title to be made there. I might even think of one later to come back and add.
The other reason I was really looking forward to this movie was to see Butler return to something more in the action genre...well, something good in the action genre. Since his breakthrough role in 300, he's been in a couple of other action movies, Gamer and RocknRolla among them, but none has really stood up to the graphic novel based hit. I'm not saying that this movie is as good as that masterpiece, but it's definitely better than some of the other endeavors he's taken on in his career.
I'm also not saying that Butler can't take on other types of roles. I enjoyed P.S. I Love you for what it was, and that was a complete flip-flop from movies like Law Abiding Citizen or Machine Gun Preacher. On the other hand, there are plenty of actors that are strong in one type of role while good in others, and I think Butler is the same way.
The final note I'd like to make is about the movie's double that's coming out later this year, White House Down. It's not only looking to be pretty much the same movie, it even has basically the same title in a homelier fashion. Plus, I don't see how Channing Tatum could come close to playing the Bruce Willis/John McClane character believably or with any accuracy. If you're going to see one or the other, I'd recommend this one, even without having seen both.
The Good:
- The cast, as is the most important prerequisite of a making a good movie, was really good. Freeman gets to act as president for the second time of which I'm aware; the first being Deep Ipmact. He fills the role well. Eckhart also does a good turn as the actual president. The supporting cast does a great job, too.
- It's not uncommon that you have to go into a movie with a suspension of disbelief, actually, it's very common. For me it's strange the things I will allow to pass in this area. I'm more than happy to believe that explosions make noise in space even though physics suggest they wouldn't, but I'm quick to point out that tires don't make a screeching sound when not on blacktop in real life, but when in a movie, they often do on grass or dirt in the movies. With all that said, it's hard to believe any scenario where the White House gets taken by terrorists, but the plan conceived for this movie is as close to believable as you can get.
- The adviser they had for the tactical portions of the movie did a good job as did whomever translated that advisement to be a bit more cinematic. All of the scenes with gun play or specifics about how Secret Service movements appeared well set in the real world.
- Though it may seem like overkill to some people, each time one of the terrorists took someone down, they came by and shot the person again in the head. This only makes sense if you're trying to take over the White House. So many times in movies the good guy or bad guy gets into a bad spot, because they didn't make sure to put their enemy out of commission.
- I was impressed with the opening sequence. It was good way to kick things off and tell us what to expect.
The Bad:
- I'm not a CG snob, and I really dislike people that are. I hate to leave a movie and hear somebody complaining about how "bad" the CG was. Yes, there are movies with bad CG - I even comment on some in the review for The Great and Powerful Oz - but most movies do a pretty good job. The CG in this movie wasn't bad, it was actually pretty good. It was somewhat distracting at times, though.
- I didn't care for the side stories that seemed somewhat unnecessary. While the president's son was a vital part of the story, from the opening sequence it seemed like he would be a much bigger piece of the movie. The story with Banning's (Butler) wife seemed like it was just there, because it was "supposed" to be, like it was just one of the required components of this genre.
- At one point in the movie, Banning confronts the lead terrorist. His conversation with him was so reminiscent of that between John McClane (Bruce Willis) and Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) that it was scary. I was just waiting for "Yipee Kai Yay" that never came, and you can see in Butler's eyes that he wants to say it. I guess what I'm saying is that the dialogue wasn't as good...
The Ugly:
- I can't say there was really anything ugly about this one.
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