WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
In a modern age of terrorism, world leaders are so often primary targets. As our security agencies constantly sift through the threats and assess the level of danger to assign, it all keeps the world on edge, nations in fear, people frightened, and solutions elusive. Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) knows this all too well after having successfully saved the U.S. President, Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) from a direct attack on the White House years ago. Now continuing to be Asher’s head agent, Banning considers the future with his wife Lean (Radha Mitchell) expecting their first child. Thinking it is time to lead a more normal life, Banning’s plans are upended when an unexpected trip overseas comes up.
Once in London with Asher and a multitude of other world leaders, a series of catastrophic attacks occur, orchestrated by a vengeance-seeking arms dealer, Aamir Barkawi (Alon Aboutboul), and his brother Kamran (Waleed Zuaiter). On the run and pursued by a seemingly endless group of Barkawi’s men, Banning once again finds himself having to step up and take them on in order to protect Asher from the televised execution Barkawi desires for him. Sitting virtually helpless back in the White House, Vice President Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) and others stand by and watch as it soon becomes a game of who Banning can actually trust while striving to keep his promise to Asher that nothing will happen to him as long as Banning lives.
Next, my Mind:
Hollywood, oh Hollywood. As much as this reviewer will be the first to admit loving a good, solid action romp, somehow it seems easier to enjoy these uncomplicated efforts when the narratives include a name like Bauer or Bond, but not Banning. It really has more to do with the lack of good writing really, than with the characters themselves. Not expecting Shakespeare here, of course, but when the attempts at “depth” and pathos arrive, it seems so overtly trite and non-engaging. Then you have the action sequences, which yes are intense, but therefore also signal the onslaught of bombs, “F’s” and otherwise, on top of enough bullets spraying about, explosions rocking buildings, and other nasty deaths occurring to become tedious rather than “Wow!!”.
Butler is solid in roles like this, and this reviewer found enjoyment from the character’s crazy quips and action-hero chops in “White House Down”, but here, it’s just a rehash of that same bravado, just located in a different country. Again, understanding exists to see a certain amount of this repetitiveness, but come on, let the character do something different perhaps? Superb character actor Eckhart really seems wasted a bit in the sequel as well, certainly playing a tough as nails Asher again with intention and poise, but still, it was hard not to see the same issues as with Butler’s Banning mentioned above. Aboutboul and Zuaiter make good enough, cookie-cutter villains, Freeman does his usual authority figure well, and everything works out in the end.
As a whole, “London Has Fallen” really illustrates the need for Hollywood to at least seek out better overall material for action films, especially sequels, with lessons in how true entertainment and intelligence can be achieved (ie: efforts like “24”, the Craig-led Bond films). Or, if going for just plain bombast but with style, the “Fast & Furious” franchise comes to mind. With “London”, it simply left this reviewer fallen in apathy.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
