Olympus has fallen 3/4 – a film review by James Berardinelli
There’s irony to be found in the recognition that the best Die Hard to be released in 2013 isn’t the franchise’s official entry, A Good Day to Die Hard, but the White House-based copycat, Olympus Has Fallen.
And, while Gerard Butler is no Bruce Willis, his Mike Banning is a better facsimile of John McClane than the guy Willis is pretending to play these days. There’s also an element of 24 to be found here, although Butler’s Banning, unfettered by TV ratings, is considerably more homicidal than Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer.
Despite being released in March, Olympus Has Fallen offers all the staples of a big summer movie: destruction on an epic scale, plenty of shoot-outs and battle sequences, and a kick-ass hero who, despite being battered and bloodied, never gives up. Although the film’s real-world credibility is shaky, it works on its own terms. The suspension of disbelief bar isn’t that difficult to clamber over. 9/11 shifted it down considerably for this sort of motion picture.
Watch the trailer…
