It’s been fifteen years or so since we’ve seen a good president-taken-hostage flick. “Air Force One” immediately springs to mind, but I’d like to bring up another winner from that period, “Sudden Death”. In it, Jean Claude Van Damme stars as a guy who just wants to watch the final game of the Stanley Cup with his kids when the president is taken hostage in the arena. In a little more than an hour, our hero beats the heck out of a terrorist dressed as a team mascot, climbs and fights from the roof, saves his children, kills the lead villain and ends up on the ice where he makes the game-winning save (even though he’s not a player on the home team). Exciting and frankly, bizarre, with its tongue planted firmly in cheek, it’s a tough act to follow.
“Olympus Has Fallen” takes a more serious approach to the material, following downtrodden, ex-presidential guard Mike Banning (Gerard Butler). He’s sore after being transferred to the Treasury Department after a horrific accident on his watch involving the President (Aaron Eckhart), First Lady (Ashley Judd) and their son Connor (Finley Jacobson). The opportunity to leap out from behind the desk and lay waste to terrorists arises when a villainous North Korean faction show up, firing rounds on Pennsylvania Ave. and the Washington Monument as part of what may be the least subtle kidnapping plot ever conceived.
After following the evil doers through the front doors as they invade the White House, Banning soon gets to work on his action hero checklist. This includes finding young Connor, rescuing the President and his aids (including Melissa Leo), stopping the North Koreans from causing nuclear devastation, and, most importantly, getting his old job back. As if that isn’t enough, our hero must contend with a grouchy ex-co-worker (Dermot Mulroney) and numerous Washington bureaucrats (Morgan Freeman, Robert Forster and Angela Bassett).
As expected, this is an absurd patchwork of late 80’s/early 90’s action tropes featured in the above films and titles like “Die Hard”. In fact, some scenes appear outright lifted from these flicks. Still, while the tone may have worked in that earlier era of over-the-top, practically comic-book inspired titles, it isn’t as successful here. Instead, it’s a jumbled mix, attempting to portray a tense and graphic hostage situation involving violent executions while mimicking the stalest of one-liners with awkward gestures of patriotism. As a result, it’s much harder to digest.
Another problem has to do with the location itself. While The White House may seem like an ideal place to set this type of a film, the fracases often takes place either in the presidential bunker below ground or throughout many identical-looking office rooms – not as visually interesting as a skyscraper, a sporting complex or a plane in flight. The result is scene after scene that features quick hand-to-hand battles on office furniture between the hero and the next nameless thug.
The cast impressively manage to keep a straight face throughout the ordeal, and, while repetitive, the action scenes are well shot and presented. Frankly, Butler isn’t a bad hero, and it’s a relief to see him in something other than the romantic comedies he’s been pigeonholed into.
Those who are able to shut their brains off and forgive just how routine it all feels may find it a passable, if instantly forgettable time-waster. There’s nothing that’s original or noteworthy about “Olympus Has Fallen”, and in no way does it manage to one-up or even match its cinematic inspirations in thrills or outrageousness. In the end, I’ll take “Sudden Death” any day of the week.