Review: London Has Fallen
London Has Fallen is one of those barely serviceable action movies with paint-by-numbers plotting and ultra-simplistic characters that may be best viewed in the comfort of one's own home as one performs various chores whilst the film's various goings-on serve as background noise. If nothing else, this wholly unnecessary sequel makes one appreciate its moderately successful predecessor, Olympus Has Fallen, which at least cleared the low bar it set for itself.
The original also had the benefit of director Antoine Fuqua's well-honed razzle-dazzle to temper the ordinariness of that particular slab of cheese. His successor, Babak Najafi, knows enough to blow up stuff but his lack of finesse results in a grinding monotony. Certainly Najafi rises to the occasion during London Has Fallen's main set-piece, a coordinated series of bombings carried out by Middle Eastern arms dealer Aamir Barkawi (Alon Moni Aboutboul), exacting payback for a drone strike that killed his daughter and most of the guests attending her wedding. Barkawi's revenge results in the deaths of a handful of world leaders, many of whom had gathered in London to attend the funeral of the Prime Minister.
Though audiences have been overfed with the now obligatory destruction of seemingly amaranthine landmarks, there is still a basic knee-jerk thrill at seeing the Houses of Parliament or Chelsea Bridge fall so easily into smithereens. Ditto for witnessing highly-trained, very skilled security teams scrambling to get their bearings amidst the mayhem in order to ensure the safety of their assigned world leader. For a brief moment, there was a hope that London Has Fallen was going to be an all-star team of international agents banding together to fight the disposable minions deployed by Barkawi. How this hope ever came to pass is beyond understanding since, in London Has Fallen's narrow-minded worldview, no one is worth saving other than American president Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart), and no man more equipped to kick terrorist ass than buffalo in a suit, Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler).
Butler's Banning is no John McClane - and Butler definitely does not have Bruce Willis' light touch - but he is a blunt and manfully gruff enough presence to maintain a modicum of audience interest. Butler may have come into prominence a decade or two too late - he would have done well during the Eighties or Nineties when these type of eye-for-an-eye action pics were often more enjoyable than they had any right to be. Butler is the star and given the most to do in this dreck, with a cadre of fine supporting actors like Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Jackie Earle Haley, and Angela Bassett predominantly relegated to staring at monitors.
London Has Fallen
Directed by: Babak Najafi
Written by: Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt, Christian Gudegast, Chad St. John
Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Jackie Earle Haley, Charlotte Riley, Alon Moni Aboutboul, Radha Mitchell, Colin Salmon, Harriet Walter, Sean O'Bryan, Patrick Kennedy
