If my son hadn't wanted to see Olympus Has Fallen, I would probably have skipped it. I was less impressed with the premise of what appeared to be yet another big-budget Hollywood film, thin on plot and heavy on special effects. My initial assessment was correct. However, I was surprised to find myself enjoying this film, in spite of the tremendous 'suspension of disbelief" it required.
Olympus Has Fallen did not have an original plot. Picture any typical hero plot, where one bad mofo takes out dozens of bad guys single-handedly while saving the world. This has been done over and over, from the old Chuck Norris, Charles Bronson or Clint Eastwood films to more recent stars like Vin Diesel, Jason Statham or Dwayne Johnson. You have to accept a film like this for what it is.
Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) heads the security detail for US President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart). Banning moves to a desk job at Treasury after a horrible car accident takes the First Lady's life. The former special forces operator is called back into action when the White House is assaulted in a carefully orchestrated attack by a terrorist bent on reunifying North and South Korea. The plan will cripple the United States with a terrifying blow if Banning fails. Considering the timing of recent events, this 2013 film was on point...
The plot was fairly linear. The terrorist (Rick Yune) is a dissident who was expelled from North Korea, but managed to find a very sensitive job as head of security for the South Korean Prime Minister. This position allows the terrorist, Kang, to orchestrate an impossible assault on the White House. The plot was riddled with problems that were too numerous to count. First of all, if Kang was not supported by a Nation-State, there is no way he could have pulled together all the elements of this plan, which included state-of-the-art weapons systems. But there were even basic failures to the plan. For instance, they utilize an aircraft with US military markings on it. Fine, but you still have to file flight plans. This seemed a stretch from the initiation of the assault. The aircraft had weapons systems on it that would have been utterly impossible for a terrorist to get his hands on. This was a running theme throughout the film. I decided I would stop over-thinking the film and just enjoy it.
Having given up on the technical aspects of the film, there were still a few glaring short-comings. The varied from issues with continuity (for instance, Butler is clean shaven driving his car. We cut away to his wife, then return to a shot of him in the car. Virtually no time has elapsed, yet he has managed three-days worth of razor stubble in the ensuing seconds. I also had issues with our hero continuing to use a handgun to conduct an assault-type operation when there were scads of assault weapons laying around. Technically, this film fell way short of the mark. Luckily, I did not rely on accuracy to enjoy this film. The action and special effects were a worthwhile diversion from the technical failures.
As an action hero, Butler was surprisingly good. He is as believable in this type of role as any of his predecessors. I have seen Butler in a couple of his other badass roles and find him credible enough. Eckhart is rather young to be a US President, but he pulled it off. They managed to age him just enough to make it palatable. Morgan Freeman was Morgan Freeman, a stabilizing force that added strength to the cast as a whole. Robert Forster is another lesser known regular who might be typecast as the General-type...but does it well. In total, the cast helped elevate this hackneyed plot to add a bit of extra zest to the big special effects.
Olympus Has Fallen received an R Rating from the MPAA. This rating is primarily tied to the heavy violence throughout the film. The film has intense action that includes numerous firefights with heavy weapons. The gore factor is kept to a minimum, but the body count is high. The "F" word is used liberally in this film, to include the take-away line that actually made me chuckle. The language was salty. There were no adult situations or nudity. Compared to most first-person shooter games, this movie had average carnage. If you let you kids play shooter games, this film is fine. I would not restrict it by age.
Putting a summary rating on a film like Olympus Has Fallen is tough. It would be easier to do a subjective vs. objective rating. Objectively, I would give this film 4/10 for the hackneyed plot and dialogue, the incredible stretch of believability, continuity issues and plot holes. Subjectively, I really found myself enjoying this film in spite of myself. What set this film apart? I can't put my finger on it. The acting was good and the special effects delivered. Other than that, I was simply absorbed. Maybe it was the pacing. Whatever the case, I am going to go with my subjective rating and give this film 7.5/10.
