London Has Fallen (2016)
Dir. Babak Najafi
Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett,
Jackie Earle Haley, Radha Mitchell, Charlotte Riley, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster
Review By Greg Klymkiw
Deep in the bowels of London's Charing Cross tube station, Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), Presidential Bodyguard Extraordinaire, slams a terrorist face-first into the cement and pins his arm to his back with a glistening attack knife shoved deeply into the man's flesh. He picks up the criminal zealot's walkie-talkie and engages in a bit of verbal jousting with a terrorist who just happens to be the big brother of the lad pinned down by our hero.
It is here where Gerard Butler gets to deliver a line of dialogue which might match (or supersede) some of the greatest tough-guy quips in action movie history.
He growls:
"Why don't you guys pack up your shit and head back to FUCK-HEAD-ISTAN or wherever it is you come from?"
Not only is the line vile, mean spirited and vaguely racist, but I have to admit it's incredibly, albeit darkly, funny. In its own strange way, it reveals how, in the war against terrorism, nobody in the U.S. can ever keep precise track of what brown-skinned Middle-Eastern terrorists they're fighting. (Indeed, the movie never goes out of its way to precisely, or at least CLEARLY reveal this, save for the fact that the bad guys are, uh, Middle Eastern and, uh, of course, terrorists.)
The aforementioned scene also leads to a touching moment wherein Butler viciously tortures his captured terrorist to death over the walkie-talkie for the benefit of big brother on the other end. Once little bro' gurgles out the last clot of blood from his mouth, President Ascher (Aaron Eckhart) looks queasily upon the carnage and queries: "Was that really necessary?"
Butler, with a straight face, responds: "No."
London Has Fallen is the inevitable sequel to the surprise box office hit of 2013 Olympus Has Fallen, which I opined at the time was "one of the stupidest movies made during the last decade". Well, I'm not sure London Has Fallen is more stupid, but its zero I.Q. matches that of its predecessor quite evenly.
Olympus featured Koreans launching terrorist violence against America, specifically the White House in Washington, D.C. London has all heads of state coming in for the funeral of the British Prime Minister - a perfect opportunity for terrorist attacks, the decimation of London and to take down as many of the free world's leaders as possible.
Olympus was directed by veteran Antoine (Training Day) Fuqua, whilst relative newcomer Babak Najafi takes over the helm with London and I might, in fact, actually give the nod to Najafi for action direction over Fuqua
Like Olympus, London delivers violence, American Propaganda, more violence, cheesy dialogue and even more violence, with much of the aforementioned bone crunching and blood-letting handled very decently. There's also a terrific extended chase scene which begins at the 20-minute mark and doesn't let up for a good 10-15 minutes and there's plenty of cheesy CGI to destroy all the London landmarks we know and love.
The plot, for what it's worth, is little more than Butler trying to get Eckhart to safety. Along the way, many evil brown-skinned terrorists are dispatched with glee. AND, there are plenty of explosions. If you like this sort of thing and if it's nicely crafted as it is here, I can only ask, "What's not to like?"
London Has Fallen is released via VVS Films June 14, 2016 on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD. The Blu-Ray comes with a couple of standard EPK-like "making of" special features.
sequel to the smash hit
Olympus Has Fallen,
will be available June 14, 2016 on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD
Here's your chance to win a free Blu-Ray from VVS Films
Answer the following London-related movie trivia questions.
The first two entries to get as many right as possible,
by 11:59pm June 13, 2016
will be the WINNERS
Email your answers to: filmcornercontests@gmail.com
Here are three mind-bending movie trivia questions:
Answer as quickly and as best you can.
The first two entries with the most correct answers will win.
GOOD LUCK
