*Originally written November 22nd, 2017*
"White House Down"
Olympus Has Fallen is a film from the '90s. Everything about it is from a different era. From its psychotic protagonist, overbearing patriotism, awful CGI and unreserved brutal violence.
This is the sort of thing Gerard Butler should be doing. Not terrible rom-coms. Butler is an actor designed to play within stupid action films. Characters that have no problem murdering people in increasingly sadistic ways.
As fun as Olympus Has Fallen can be, it's not all successful. It runs overlong and could have been trimmed to a brisker 90 minute run-time. There's also a lot of scenes taken directly from Die Hard with no sense of irony. It also takes itself far too seriously, despite the silly premise, everything is played dead straight.
The CGI is garbage too, the opening assault (which is fantastic) is plagued with what looks like PS2 cut-scene special effects. I at least appreciate how violent Olympus is. In a world plagued with PC attitudes and toned down violence in mainstream films, this comes along and gives that a big "Fuck you". Butler brutally murders faceless Koreans with head-shots, neck breaking and stabs to the head. In a world of complex heroes who feel bad about killing, it's oddly refreshing to see a film where our lead is a complete sociopath.
There's not a massive lot to say about Olympus Has Fallen. It is what it is, a throwback from a bygone era. Violent, stupid and over the top, but above all: fun.
7/10 Dans
Olympus Has Fallen is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
Watch the trailer below:
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