Cast
Gerard Butler.................Mike Banning
Aaron Eckhart.............Benjamin Asher
Morgan Freeman.......Speaker Trumbull
Rick Yune..................................Kang
*****WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS*****
So, let's talk about Olympus Has Fallen. Overall, this movie was pretty good. It's one of the better action films that has come out in a long time in my opinion. It was violent. There was a lot of language. However, it is rated R. If you are not okay with violence or language, do not under any circumstance come see this movie. You will not like it. You've been warned.
As for me, I was okay with it. I've gotten to the point where language and violence aren't really a big deal to me. It's not that I don't notice it, it's just that for me, language and violence aren't going to take away from the story. I'm able to get past the potty-mouths and gore. Unlike some people. *Cough cough* My mother *cough* (in her words, there "were like, thirty head-shots").
So the plot line of this movie is that some North Korean (yes, I cringed as well) terrorists attack the White House while the South Korean prime minister is visiting. The president, the South Korean prime minister, and both men's security teams are placed in the bunker. Mike Banning (Butler) was head of Secret Service but due to an unfortunate car accident where the First Lady died, he was relieved of his duties and went to work for the Treasury. When the North Korean's attack, he runs over to help.
Some stuff blows up and after a series of chaotic events, there's a hole blown open in the gate surrounding the White House. All these North Koreans start streaming onto the front lawn of the White House. All these security guards come out and there's a huge shootout where quite a few people die. And by quite a few, I mean like forty.
Mike Banning and these two guards are on the front steps of the White House. He starts running towards the front doors and tells the other two guys to follow him. But surprise, surprise: they die.
So Mike is left alone with about fifty North Koreans patrolling the White House. And because this is an action movie, he of course single-handedly kills about thirty North Koreans. The movie cuts to a scene in the bunker and all of a sudden, the South Korean prime minister's security team starts shooting everyone and taking the President and all his people hostage (this includes the South Korean prime minister. Poor guy, he just wanted to visit America).
Then the movie cuts to a scene where all these people are sitting around a conference table like "what do we do?" and then.............Morgan Freeman walks in.
Our nation's savior.
God's gift to us all.
Basically, Morgan Freeman's character is Speaker of the House and because nobody knows if the President and VP are okay, he becomes the acting President. So he sits at the head of the table and then this video pops up on the big screen. And it's the head of security for the South Korean prime minister. But really, he's the leader of the North Korean terrorists. So at this point, you're like "oh crap, it's about to get real."
So the head honcho of the terrorists, Kang (Yune), is holding the President, VP, and a bunch of other important government people hostage in the bunker. He tells Morgan Freeman that he has to recall the 7th Fleet (whatever that is) and pull the troops out of the DMZ or he will attack and kill everyone, etc.
Now keep in mind that the only reason the NK terrorist is there is to get our codes to cause our nuclear missiles to self destruct. He plans on having them blow up in their silos (basically meaning that the nukes will blow up while they're still on the ground), so the United States will become a nuclear wasteland and we'll all suffer, so on and so forth.
So because this is a "guys'" movie (in my opinion), Mike Banning starts busting through the White House and single handedly takes out about thirty North Koreans. I mean who needs logic? But anyway, the day is saved.
So how did the actors do?
Good ole Gerard Butler. I have to say, I think he did well in this movie. Now I haven't seen Gerard in many movies (I know, how is that possible?), but I liked him in this one. I thought he did very well playing a character who is extremely loyal to the president and to his country (which I thought was funny because you know... he's Scottish). And for an "action" role, he impressed me.
Now if there is one thing (besides special effects) that I am a stickler about, it's accents. If an actor is not American, but has to speak in an American accent in a movie, they better have it perfected. Now Gerard's accent did slip a couple times and I noticed it right away. But because I was enjoying the movie up until that point, I let it slide.
Just this once.
Aaron Eckhart.... Let me tell you. It was really hard for me to watch this movie and see him as the President of the United States. Instead, every time he came on-screen, I saw him as...... Harvey Dent. A.K.A. Harvey Two-Face.
The poor guy. I mean maybe I'm the only one but the only real role I remember Aaron Eckhart playing is Harvey Dent from the Dark Knight. Now this role is obviously very similar to Harvey Dent's character which also made it hard for me to see him as playing a different character. It might be because of the fact that I've only seen him in roles that are very similar, but so far, Aaron Eckhart seems to be an actor with only one character.
I have learned over the course of many movie-filled years that there are four truths to the film industry: 1) No one hates the Bourne Series. 2) No one hates Emma Watson 3) Everyone loves Michael Caine and 4) Everyone loves Morgan Freeman.
(Side note on the first two. By saying "No one hates" the Bourne Series, Michael Caine, or Emma Watson, that means that you may not love them, but you don't hate them either. I mean think about it...)
So obviously, Morgan Freeman is a legend. And I must say, I was a bit disappointed in his role in this movie. And I understand that Morgan can't have every lead in every film but still, this one was a bit of a let-down. He acted brilliantly as always but I walked away feeling like there should have been more.
I must admit, I have never seen Rick Yune before. I don't think he's been in any American movies and if he has, I either didn't see them or didn't recognize him.
I think he did well in this movie. He was very good at being ruthless and cold.
But I think overall in the movie, the actors didn't do much. I mean they were part of it, yah, but I felt like the movie was more about making it look action-y, not about the story. The dialogue was a bit dry and the characters were kind of static.
Now don't get me wrong, I love a good action movie. But I really appreciate action movies that can incorporate a story that builds and grabs the audience's attention. It shouldn't just be a constant shoot-out between the good guy and the bad guys, it should have dimension if that makes any sense. I'm being a bit generous when I say it was seven stars.
Anyway, sorry it's been a while again, I'm trying to be more consistent, honestly I am. Don't worry there's more to come.
I'm trying to think of a good way to end this but I'm failing miserably. So until next time...
Long Live Morgan Freeman.
Sources
Cast-IMDB
Images-Google
As for me, I was okay with it. I've gotten to the point where language and violence aren't really a big deal to me. It's not that I don't notice it, it's just that for me, language and violence aren't going to take away from the story. I'm able to get past the potty-mouths and gore. Unlike some people. *Cough cough* My mother *cough* (in her words, there "were like, thirty head-shots").
So the plot line of this movie is that some North Korean (yes, I cringed as well) terrorists attack the White House while the South Korean prime minister is visiting. The president, the South Korean prime minister, and both men's security teams are placed in the bunker. Mike Banning (Butler) was head of Secret Service but due to an unfortunate car accident where the First Lady died, he was relieved of his duties and went to work for the Treasury. When the North Korean's attack, he runs over to help.
Some stuff blows up and after a series of chaotic events, there's a hole blown open in the gate surrounding the White House. All these North Koreans start streaming onto the front lawn of the White House. All these security guards come out and there's a huge shootout where quite a few people die. And by quite a few, I mean like forty.
Mike Banning and these two guards are on the front steps of the White House. He starts running towards the front doors and tells the other two guys to follow him. But surprise, surprise: they die.
So Mike is left alone with about fifty North Koreans patrolling the White House. And because this is an action movie, he of course single-handedly kills about thirty North Koreans. The movie cuts to a scene in the bunker and all of a sudden, the South Korean prime minister's security team starts shooting everyone and taking the President and all his people hostage (this includes the South Korean prime minister. Poor guy, he just wanted to visit America).
Then the movie cuts to a scene where all these people are sitting around a conference table like "what do we do?" and then.............Morgan Freeman walks in.
Our nation's savior.
God's gift to us all.
Basically, Morgan Freeman's character is Speaker of the House and because nobody knows if the President and VP are okay, he becomes the acting President. So he sits at the head of the table and then this video pops up on the big screen. And it's the head of security for the South Korean prime minister. But really, he's the leader of the North Korean terrorists. So at this point, you're like "oh crap, it's about to get real."
So the head honcho of the terrorists, Kang (Yune), is holding the President, VP, and a bunch of other important government people hostage in the bunker. He tells Morgan Freeman that he has to recall the 7th Fleet (whatever that is) and pull the troops out of the DMZ or he will attack and kill everyone, etc.
Now keep in mind that the only reason the NK terrorist is there is to get our codes to cause our nuclear missiles to self destruct. He plans on having them blow up in their silos (basically meaning that the nukes will blow up while they're still on the ground), so the United States will become a nuclear wasteland and we'll all suffer, so on and so forth.
So because this is a "guys'" movie (in my opinion), Mike Banning starts busting through the White House and single handedly takes out about thirty North Koreans. I mean who needs logic? But anyway, the day is saved.
So how did the actors do?
Good ole Gerard Butler. I have to say, I think he did well in this movie. Now I haven't seen Gerard in many movies (I know, how is that possible?), but I liked him in this one. I thought he did very well playing a character who is extremely loyal to the president and to his country (which I thought was funny because you know... he's Scottish). And for an "action" role, he impressed me.
Now if there is one thing (besides special effects) that I am a stickler about, it's accents. If an actor is not American, but has to speak in an American accent in a movie, they better have it perfected. Now Gerard's accent did slip a couple times and I noticed it right away. But because I was enjoying the movie up until that point, I let it slide.
Just this once.
Aaron Eckhart.... Let me tell you. It was really hard for me to watch this movie and see him as the President of the United States. Instead, every time he came on-screen, I saw him as...... Harvey Dent. A.K.A. Harvey Two-Face.
The poor guy. I mean maybe I'm the only one but the only real role I remember Aaron Eckhart playing is Harvey Dent from the Dark Knight. Now this role is obviously very similar to Harvey Dent's character which also made it hard for me to see him as playing a different character. It might be because of the fact that I've only seen him in roles that are very similar, but so far, Aaron Eckhart seems to be an actor with only one character.
(Side note on the first two. By saying "No one hates" the Bourne Series, Michael Caine, or Emma Watson, that means that you may not love them, but you don't hate them either. I mean think about it...)
So obviously, Morgan Freeman is a legend. And I must say, I was a bit disappointed in his role in this movie. And I understand that Morgan can't have every lead in every film but still, this one was a bit of a let-down. He acted brilliantly as always but I walked away feeling like there should have been more.
I must admit, I have never seen Rick Yune before. I don't think he's been in any American movies and if he has, I either didn't see them or didn't recognize him.
I think he did well in this movie. He was very good at being ruthless and cold.
But I think overall in the movie, the actors didn't do much. I mean they were part of it, yah, but I felt like the movie was more about making it look action-y, not about the story. The dialogue was a bit dry and the characters were kind of static.
Now don't get me wrong, I love a good action movie. But I really appreciate action movies that can incorporate a story that builds and grabs the audience's attention. It shouldn't just be a constant shoot-out between the good guy and the bad guys, it should have dimension if that makes any sense. I'm being a bit generous when I say it was seven stars.
Anyway, sorry it's been a while again, I'm trying to be more consistent, honestly I am. Don't worry there's more to come.
I'm trying to think of a good way to end this but I'm failing miserably. So until next time...
Long Live Morgan Freeman.
Sources
Cast-IMDB
Images-Google
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