Trailer Trashin’: It’s Die Hard in the White House – Take One, Olympus Has Fallen
We’re still stuck in the January doldrums, dear readers, but all we can do is slog through as we await both warmer weather and better movies. This week’s Trailer Trashin’ takes aim at the first trailer for Olympus Has Fallen, the first of this year’s two action movies involving a hostile takeover of the White House.
Premise: When the White House – Secret Service codename: “Olympus” – is captured by a terrorist mastermind (Rick Yune) and the President (Aaron Eckhart) is kidnapped, disgraced former Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) finds himself trapped within the building. As our national security team scrambles to respond, they are forced to rely on Banning’s inside knowledge to help retake the White House, save the President, and avert an even bigger disaster.
My take: About every few years, we get another example of “dueling movies” – two films with the same or similar premise or subject matter released relatively close together. Back in 1998, we had two films about giant space rocks threatening the Earth with Deep Impact and Armageddon. We got two films about Truman Capote with Capote (2005) and Infamous (2006). And just last year, we had dueling Snow White movies with Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman.
This year, we will have two movies that could both be described as “Die Hard in the White House,” where a lone Secret Service agent has to rescue the President after hostile forces take over the White House. First out will be this week’s subject, Olympus Has Fallen, in late March, with Gerard Butler as the agent and Aaron Eckhart as the President, directed by Antoine Fuqua of Training Day (2001). In late June, we’ll get White House Down, with Channing Tatum as the agent, Jamie Foxx as the President, and directed by Roland Emmerich of Independence Day (1996). In the meantime, the first trailer for Olympus Has Fallen is here, and while it sports some cool action and a great cast, the issues I have with it have done a lot to dampen any excitement I had.
There are a lot of talented people in the cast, but unfortunately none of the characters look like anything to write home about. I’ve liked Gerard Butler since Reign of Fire (2002), and it’s nice to see him in another action film. Aaron Eckhart certainly has the authoritative bearing to play the President, but I hope he has more to do than just be the defiant hostage. The great Morgan Freeman plays the Speaker of the House, and I’m sure he’ll bring his usual gravitas. Angela Bassett plays the head of the Secret Service, and hopefully her role will consist of more than just standing up for Butler when others question if he can get the job done. Rick Yune always makes for a good villain, and he’s a good choice for the leader of the terrorists. We also get to see Ashley Judd in what must be most of her role as the ill-fated First Lady. Dylan McDermott, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Cole Hauser, and Radha Mitchell round out the cast.
The action in the film looks quite cool. Fuqua is no stranger to gritty action thrillers, and he seems like he’s in his element here. The gunship mowing down the soldiers, the shootout on the White House lawn, Banning fighting the guys in the Oval Office, the helicopters flying through the anti-aircraft fire, the F-22 Raptor swooping over the Washington skyline – it all looks well-done and appropriately thrilling.
But as cool as the action might look, as soon as you start to examine it from a logical perspective, it falls completely apart. First, the White House has got to be the most heavily guarded building in the country, and is located mere miles from the Pentagon itself, so the idea that armed hostiles could actually get inside it is a real stretch. Second, the area around the White House and the Capitol is prohibited airspace, and any aircraft would be forced to leave the area well before it could get anywhere near as close as is shown here. Also, the gunship airplane that the bad guys use looks to be a Lockheed AC-130 Spectre, which has only ever been used by the United States Air Force, and the idea that the North Koreans could get their hands on one that is in perfect working order is ludicrous. Finally, there’s the fact that the concept of the North Koreans being able to make an armed invasion of the continental United States is absolutely ridiculous. This was unbelievable enough in the remake of Red Dawn last year, but that at least took place in a smallish town in Washington state, whereas this is in the middle of Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, because North Korea is one of the few countries that can be used as villains in movies with no risk of losing valuable foreign box office, we’re probably going to see a lot of this sort of malarkey for the foreseeable future.
Besides the issue of believability, I’m also concerned by how clichéd the film looks. Mike Banning is basically just a younger version of Clint Eastwood’s character from In the Line of Fire (1993), the former Secret Service agent who is haunted by his failure to save a member of the First Family. And poor Angela Bassett has to deliver the groan-inducing line “He’s ex-special forces,” which in films like this has come to mean “nigh-superhuman killing machine.” I wonder if he’s also a maverick who plays by his own rules?
I wish I didn’t feel this negative about a film with so many talented people involved. Fuqua is a good director, and nobody in the cast could be called a slouch when it comes to acting. But ultimately, the things the movie has going for it are overshadowed by the ridiculous concept and clichéd approach. At this point, unless it ends up getting really good reviews, I’ll be giving Olympus Has Fallen a miss while it’s in theaters.
ANTICIPATION: I am planning to vote with my wallet by not seeing this.
Release Date: March 22nd, 2013
Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Dylan McDermott, Melissa Leo, Rick Yune, Ashley Judd, Robert Forster, Tory Kittles, Cole Hauser, Radha Mitchell, and Arden Cho
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Writers: Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt
P.S. So J.J. Abrams is going to direct Star Wars Episode VII. I was NOT expecting this.
Timothy Monforton
