Somehow 2013 was host to the battle of the White House action movies, with Olympus Has Fallen and, finally taking it's bow this side of the pond, White House Down duking it out. While Olympus Has Fallen had director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) at the helm keeping things tense and gritty, giving the movie a healthy dose of realism, here Roland Emmerich, best known for wrecking shop on an epic scale with the likes of Independence Day and 2012, delivers a goofy, but enjoyable, throw back to the 80's and 90's, back when every action movie was "Die Hard on something or other", with Channing Tatum's police officer John Cale teaming up with the Obama-alike President Sawyer (Jamie Foxx) to take on a group of domestic terrorists who take over the White House.
As I've said before, Olympus Has Fallen took a serious approach to it's subject matter. Not so with White House Down, presenting a much lighter tone, especially with the almost buddy cop relationship between Tatum and Foxx. The two movies do share a couple of plot beats, especially the inclusion of a defenseless moppet the hero must save, in this case Cale's daughter (Joey King), but they are completely different beasts. Taking it's time with the set up, White House down really kicks into high gear when the first explosion rips through the roof of the Capitol Building. Jumping off from this, Emmerich peppers proceedings with some nicely staged, but choppily edited, action. A car chase on the White House lawn, complete with rocket launchers and gatling guns, should tell you all you need to know about the movie. To Emmerich's credit he does craft some really entertaining set pieces, especially the aforementioned car chase and a cracking fight in the White House kitchens, but the script from James Vanderbilt dips liberally into the big bag of action movie cliches, even going as far as recycling scenes from other action movies like Die Hard and The Rock. The overall plot is intriguing, offering a labyrinthine story that is really fun at times, but while the big bad's motivations are unique at first, they end going the same way as the rest of the movie and fall into cliche.
Tatum and Foxx work really well together, their witty back and forth's doing well to keep proceedings zipping by, as well as eliciting some good laughs from the audience. Apart, Tatum turns in a likable action hero, proving he's handy with a one liner, though at times you really get the feeling he is trying to be John McClane. Foxx does come across as a bit too earnest as President Sawyer, especially when talking about his hero Abraham Lincoln, but he does seem to be having a lot of fun. The supporting cast, especially Maggie Gyllhenhaal and Richard Jenkins, take a back seat once the bullets start flying, but they all get a moment in the spotlight. And James Woods puts in his usual great work, because he is James Woods, and I won't hear a bad word said about him.
Thoroughly entertaining, with some great set pieces, White House Down ultimately falls down due to relying far too heavily on cliche and clearly wanting to be other more successful action movies, especially Die Hard, but still delivers an enjoyable night at the cinema.
As I've said before, Olympus Has Fallen took a serious approach to it's subject matter. Not so with White House Down, presenting a much lighter tone, especially with the almost buddy cop relationship between Tatum and Foxx. The two movies do share a couple of plot beats, especially the inclusion of a defenseless moppet the hero must save, in this case Cale's daughter (Joey King), but they are completely different beasts. Taking it's time with the set up, White House down really kicks into high gear when the first explosion rips through the roof of the Capitol Building. Jumping off from this, Emmerich peppers proceedings with some nicely staged, but choppily edited, action. A car chase on the White House lawn, complete with rocket launchers and gatling guns, should tell you all you need to know about the movie. To Emmerich's credit he does craft some really entertaining set pieces, especially the aforementioned car chase and a cracking fight in the White House kitchens, but the script from James Vanderbilt dips liberally into the big bag of action movie cliches, even going as far as recycling scenes from other action movies like Die Hard and The Rock. The overall plot is intriguing, offering a labyrinthine story that is really fun at times, but while the big bad's motivations are unique at first, they end going the same way as the rest of the movie and fall into cliche.
Tatum and Foxx work really well together, their witty back and forth's doing well to keep proceedings zipping by, as well as eliciting some good laughs from the audience. Apart, Tatum turns in a likable action hero, proving he's handy with a one liner, though at times you really get the feeling he is trying to be John McClane. Foxx does come across as a bit too earnest as President Sawyer, especially when talking about his hero Abraham Lincoln, but he does seem to be having a lot of fun. The supporting cast, especially Maggie Gyllhenhaal and Richard Jenkins, take a back seat once the bullets start flying, but they all get a moment in the spotlight. And James Woods puts in his usual great work, because he is James Woods, and I won't hear a bad word said about him.
Thoroughly entertaining, with some great set pieces, White House Down ultimately falls down due to relying far too heavily on cliche and clearly wanting to be other more successful action movies, especially Die Hard, but still delivers an enjoyable night at the cinema.
