‘London Has Fallen’ and fallen and fallen
When viewing the action thriller “London Has Fallen,” there’s no escaping the reality that you’ve seen everything on the screen before — many, many times.
Where “Olympus” laid siege to Washington, D.C., the latest adventure leaves the British capital in ruins, thanks to terrorists who can kill heads of state and blow up well-guarded landmarks with the flick of a wrist.
There to save the day, though, is Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), whose default personality trait is kick-ass.
[...] an attack of world proportions occurs, and Banning can’t reunite with his expectant wife, because he must protect endangered U.S. President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart), whom the terrorists want as the star in their new beheading video.
The film hopes to woo us with its CGI effects of bombarded London and Banning’s gun battles with an army of terrorists, but they come off as perfunctory.
Director Babak Najafi tries to whip up some fun banter between Banning and the president, but most of the time, Butler and Eckhart can’t pull it off.
[...] that’s probably a good thing for these thespians, because the more screen time that actors get in this film, the worst impression they make.
The producers have made what they intended to make: a paranoid, patriotic popcorn movie.