Olympus Has Fallen

I have always been a firm believer in Antoine Fuqua.  I have an exceptionally firm belief that he has far from reached his best.  And I firmly believe that if he doesn’t really pull his pants up sooner than later, he will lose whatever possibility he has to deliver a stunning piece of work.



I say this because I believe he is lazy.  Too lazy to not look at the finer details of making good quality cinema.  One maybe making an all out action flick but there are so many pieces of detail that get missed out.  I don’t mean to say it is easy.  But that’s what differentiates the great from good right?

For e.g. If there is a photograph of a president with his son and the actors playing the part haven’t had the time for a shoot, then at least ensure that the photoshop exercise has been done with precision.  Another one would be using the green screen in a manner that it doesn’t look like the green screen has been used.  And is the presidential car in the 2^nd position in a cavalcade (genuine question but I would have guessed no).

Now, I am quite certain that Fuqua cannot call out money as the reason for not finishing his movies well.  Surely he has enough weight that he can throw around in Hollywood.  If not, then I guess his time is definitely up.  Because despite that and the likes of Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman and Angela Basset, we have a movie that is just about above average.

And unfortunately, the reason for a 6 on 10 rating and not a 7 on 10 is just bad finishing.  It has nothing to do with the story.  Because the story was an interesting one for sure.  Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) saves the president but fails to save the first lady when their cavalcade crashes.  He therefore finds himself out of the secret service lead duty for over a year and a half.

However, an attack on the White House (audacious as it may seem) gets Banning back in action as he finds his way into the most secure house on the planet (or is it).  The attack is masterminded by a rebel Korean outfit that wants the US to withdraw its troops from the 38^th Parallel and the waters of Korea.

For about 15 minutes after the attack starts, there is just nonstop gun fighting and bodies falling all over the place.  Something that would put Terminator or Commando to shame.  Much as I love action movies, it just left my ears numb for a while.  The lack of any quality screenplay didn’t help with my eventual rating for sure either.

Is this the first movie to show a president being kidnapped? I am not sure.  Was the acting below par? Not at all.  The cast did what was asked of it and that was definitely up there in terms of expectation.  But at the cost of repeating myself – the finishing was below par.  Way below par.  6 on 10 (sorry for repeating again).

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3461588761/?ref_=tt_ov_vi