I'm a bit of a sucker for these action thrillers, big, loud and dumb (only occasionally do we get a smart one), and the newest one, last week's "Angel Has Fallen," is all-of-the-above, except smart, of course. It's plot is as rudimentary as they come, lifted straight out of Harrison Ford's sublime "The Fugitive" only instead of a dead wife it's a failed assassination attempt on the president.
I'll admit, I had no intent on heading to the theaters had I not read a review, comparing star Gerard Butler to the late Charles Bronson, whom I have an unfettered affection for. But was I willing to pluck down ten and change on the second sequel in a franchise I keep forgetting exists? Of course not, until Netflix showed "Olympus Has Fallen," the first installment, in my "recommended movies" scroll. Two or so hours later, I was in. Oh of course, not for ten bucks! But luck would have it, little local theater has matinees for just five or so dollars, which is the most I can advise anyone spend to see this. Is it bad? No not really, but it's not particularly good either. I skipped on the recent actioner "Hobbs and Shaw" for one simple reason, the PG-13 rating. What does a guy have to do to see some bloodshed with all the bullets? And a few hard expletives here and there? Here we have a solid R rating, a well deserved one, and in a world where theaters seem to only debut diluted shoot'em-ups, it's kind of refreshing.
The production value is a bit too high for me to ever imagine seeing my boy Charlie in (as well as far too little nudity and killed lovers), but its script and direction is nowhere as near as good as what you'd expect Stallone or Schwarzenegger to be headlining. But then again, Gerard is no Bronson (lacking his commanding screen presence), Stallone (missing his stoic face) or Schwarzenegger (deprived of his sense of humor), lacking any of their charm, but close your eyes and picture an early 90's Steven Seagal, puffy face complete with a slight paunch, and your expectations are in good hands. It's as run-of-the-mill an action flick can be without being boring, and that's the key here, I was never bored. Was I ever at the edge of my seat? No, but I sat very comfortably in the reclining, heated leather chairs of my local cheapo cinema.
There are all the obligatory plot twists, well, they're handled more like awkward and convenient detours by stuntman turned director Ric Roman Waugh, who's obviously more confident staging the gunfights, which there plenty of, than the hand-to-hand combat, which are shaky and overedited to the point where they're hard to follow, probably why most are shot in the dark. Scenes pass where I had no idea what the hell was going on, and they ended without me knowing what had happened. Having just seen the "Olympus" on the small screen, which had far more cohesive brawls shot in rather well lit environments, it's a bit disappointing but- oh that's right the plot! See how inconsequential it is?
Discussing the nuances in any detail is not just a disservice, but also would just be a list of the supporting actors, which range from Nick Nolte, as Gerard's bonkers dad, to Morgan Freeman playing none other than Mr. President. (Spending one half of the film in a coma and the other sitting in a hospital; with the smallest budget in the series, they could probably only afford him for a few hours.) But there are explosions galore, a lot of fake blood spewed, and plenty of swears- it's the kind of film they don't make much of anymore, or at least ones that come to your local megaplex, for better or worse.
