Olympus Has Fallen REVIEW! -SPOILERS- UK RELEASE

Today is April 17th and we here in the UK, finally have this damn film! Only a month later than the US... As I am writing this section before I go to the cinema, my knowledge of the plot is very basic. Some Korean dude (Rick Yune) takes over the White House in a bid to get the President (Aaron Eckhart - Two Face from Batman). By killing almost everyone in the building, the disgraced body guard (Gerard Butler) goes against the odds to take out the bad guys and save the President with the assistance of Speaker Trumble (Morgan Freeman) over the radio. So essentially this movie kind of predicted the tension with Korea when it was being made last year.

Well, as it stands, my knowledge of the plot was quite accurate. Gerard Butler's character, "Mike" was the Presidents best bodyguard who saved him, instead of his wife after piling the presidential limo off a bridge. It appears that Mike was was removed simply due to the reminder he would represent. The main cause for this terrorist attack is based on America's involvement and troop placement on the Korean boarders. It all goes down and Mike runs to the rescue from his new job just down the road. Eventually everyone is either captured or dead and Mike is fighting to repel the terrorists and clear the White House.

Story wise, it is very simple and lacks much to really grip you, and this is much the same when you notice the character development that really lacks much context to the overall plot and just plainly

drops off the edge of the world. Set pieces which are scarred by explosives and bullet holes are pretty damn horrible looking and look like they were made out of Styrofoam, this also doesn't bode well for scenes which require a lot of CGI which is so blatantly obvious, it looks out of place and grotesque. A lot of the filming was alright, very little diversity or creative attempts make to push it a bit further but it's action and all we want is a load of blood and explosions. One last note about this is about the news feed that you would transition to between shots; one of these had a huge spelling mistake in the damn title!


For the action genre, bad story lines and bad character development are just part of the game. Just like any good action film you have a man that mows down mercenary terrorists with such ease that it looks like anyone can do it. Fight scenes were well choreographed and the violence was enough to make me giggle at the sheer ferocity and simplicity of it all. Where would an action movie be without the cheese-ball death scenes, the cheesy one liners and the hero saving America from another nuclear crisis with 1-3 seconds left on the timer. Let us not forget that it is America saving the world with an
evil foreigner, which makes many Americans feel patriotic! Yet, I do have a few issues with the action. If everyone was as good as they were making out, they would have proper gun etiquette when entering and clearing rooms. Not hold down the trigger when you approach a room and always keeping an eye down the site in tight corridors...

Overall, this movie won't be seeing any awards this year. Apart from the possible "Worst CGI explosions". The 4 main characters were all very good with their roles and Morgan's raised voice certainly felt legitimate. Everyone else in the movie was kinda dull, a child smiling when he can hear the commotion and then the snap of a neck was a bit creepy and the over dramatic captured women screaming some patriotic nonsense. Also, beware that there is a lot of strobe lighting which can cause issues, but it's more that they cranked the explosive noises to 11, so they could blow my ear drums and brain out of my head.

Critically this movie deserves 6/10 and an 8 for the good laugh.