You know, I’m glad I got to see this movie again, because sometimes it’s good to revisit – What? Wait, this isn’t the same film? I see. Huh. You know, I thought Morgan Freeman looked younger. And Gerard Butler looked an awful lot like Channing Tatum.Well, I suppose it’s an easy mistake, seeing as this is basically the same movie as Olympus Has Fallen. In fact, White House Down is almost EXACTLY the same movie. So much so that I’m a bit surprised I haven’t heard about any lawsuits.
You know, I’m glad I got to see this movie again, because sometimes it’s good to revisit – What? Wait, this isn’t the same film? I see. Huh. You know, I thought Morgan Freeman looked younger. And Gerard Butler looked an awful lot like Channing Tatum.Well, I suppose it’s an easy mistake, seeing as this is basically the same movie as Olympus Has Fallen. In fact, it’s almost EXACTLY the same movie. So much so that I’m a bit surprised I haven’t heard about any lawsuits.
So, this Capitol policeman, John Cale, is on an impromptu tour of the White House with his daughter when suddenly it’s invaded by a group of paramilitary attackers. Cale takes it upon himself to try and save his daughter, the President, and the day, in this second “attack the White House” movie of the year.
Yes, it’s nearly the same exact film as Olympus Has Fallen from a couple months ago. Guy with an obstacle to overcome in his past – here a reputation for being an under-achiever with authority issues, the other film a guy feeling gun-shy after failing to save the Presidents wife – must take the lead after the White House is invaded and the President captured. Same character arc, practically the same sequence of events. Oh, but in one film it’s a son to save, this one a daughter.
They both have a sequence with bad guys on the roof with surface to air missle launchers, shooting at military helicopters trying to help. They both have the exact same end result: helicopters blowing up or crashing on the White House lawn.
But one has the acting President being Morgan Freeman, this one has…Jamie Fox as President? Yeah, he’s about as believable as you’d expect: not very. And such a strange waste of acting talent, too. Maggie Gyllenhaal? Richard Jenkins? James Woods? What was the paycheck on this thing?
The one-liners are awful, and not in a good way. The only one funny enough to laugh at is given to a tour guide who gets the delight of cocking a shotgun and saying, “Tours over.” There, you just got the funniest line in the film. Now go see something else.
Ok, fine. Technically this film is fine. Shot ok, the acting is good – for what it is, and the action scenes are moderatly entertaining. BUT I’VE ALREADY SEEN THIS LAST APRIL. Even all the hoopla about the Republicans getting all bent out of shape about this being Democratic ant-war in the Middle East propaganda is utterly moot. I just don’t care. Hollywood’s go-to guy for action disaster films, Roland Emmerich, is responsible for directing this pointless endeavor. I can’t think of any reason to have made it. When Emmerich made Godzilla, I was excited because I’m a big Godzilla fan and it was a big deal to see an American version made. But the more I thought about the film, the more it made me angry at about how stupid it was. Then Emmerich follows that with The Day After Tomorrow and 2012. Ok, maybe he isn’t as bad as Michael Bay, but he’s trying to be.
I can’t in good conscience tell anyone to go see White House Down. I suppose if you didn’t see Olympus Has Fallen, then see this if you want to see a movie about the WHite House being stormed by terrorist types or whatever. But it’s chock ful of cheese and just not that entertaining. There’s an air of lowest common denominator hanging over this movie. The scary thing is, this isn’t the worst film I’ve ever seen. Not by a pretty wide margin. But it’s not getting more than 2 kittenhands from me. This is the kind of nonsense we shouldn’t be giving money to in Hollywood. White House Down is the kind of movie you want to tell Hollywood to stop making while you’re slapping them across the face.
~ Neil T. Weakley, your average movie-goer, hoping nobody else thinks of making a moive like this. Remember when there were, like, seven body-swapping movies back in the 80’s? And only one of them was good? Yikes.