MOVIE REVIEW: Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

The movie is a story of an ex-Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) who was recently assigned to the Treasury Department after the death of First Lady Margaret Asher (Ashley Judd) on a snowy December 25 night as the presidential convoy was on its way to a dinner. President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) was saved before the "Beast" fell into the frozen river but Margaret dies. Banning was haunted by the experience as he blamed himself for the failure to save the First Lady.

Eighteen months later, a North Korean terrorist Kang Yeonsak (Rick Yune ) commandeers the white house with the help of an ex-US Secret Service Agent traitor now working as a security contractor Dave Forbes (Dylan McDermott) and holds Pres. Banning hostage together with then visiting South Korean Prime Minister Lee Tae-Woo (keong Sim). Kang demands the withdrawal of U.S. forces on the DMZ in the hopes of unifiying the two kKoreas and plans to detonate the U.S. nuclear arsenal in revenge for the killing of his parents which he blamed on U.S. forces.

The movie is actually James Bondsy-like and I'm saying it in a good way. The action scenes were in my opinion heart-stopping and actually creatively unexpected but not not jaw-dropping spectacular. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the movie in that this is the first movie that actually explores on the theme of a White House physical takeover. What I dislike however is the unclear presentation of the events that led to the crash of the presidential motorcade at the beginning of the movie. The director did not present a credible and clear chronology of events that led to the accident. Was the accident caused by the icy conditions of the road or did they hit something? It seems to me that neither was clearly shown although I am in the impression that somehow something struck the windshield of the lead car. This might seem minor to the story but the opening scene actually sets the tone of the minor but nevertheless important plot of the story, how Banning came to be separated from the presidential bubble (the president's close-in security) which played into the succeeding events since it allowed the story to proceed with the eventual overtaking of the White House. For those who have yet to figure out why the title? Well, it's a code used in the movie to signal that the president was held hostage. Which means that there really is a code for when the U.S. president is held hostage.

I would rate the movie a 7 on the action scenes (out of a perfect 10) and 8 on the plot, 6 on the acting and 7 on the cinematography and special effects. Over-all, I'd say a score of 7 would be in order. Definitely a movie for a week-end of adrenaline highs for the action buffs.