MOVIE OF THE WEEK (3/22/13): OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN
If a picture's worth a thousand words, I think this picture is screaming "Help!" One of the theatrical poster for Antoine Fuqua's new action thriller OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN. Credit: © 2013 FilmDistrict. All Rights Reserved.
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Gerard Butler, Rick Yune, Finley Jacobsen, Dylan McDermott, Angela Bassett, Melissa Leo, Cole Hauser, Radha Mitchell, Phil Austin and Ashley Judd
WRITER(S): Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt (screenplay)
DIRECTOR: Antoine Fuqua
WEB SITE: http://olympusmovie.com/
THE PLOT: Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), Olympus Has Fallen stars Gerard Butler as Mike Banning, a former Secret Service agent who for years enjoyed protecting President Asher (Aaron Eckhardt) ... That all changes, however, once a tragedy occurs that changes the lives of Banning, Asher, his wife (Ashley Judd) and son Connor (Finley Jacobsen) forever ...
Fast forward months later and President Banning now has a new situation on his hands that's taking up his time: A summit with South Korean Prime Minister (Keong Sim). North Korea, you see, has been threatening the DMZ, (The Korean Demilitarized Zone), leaving the threat of war prominent at any moment.
And the time it seems, may be now to make an unprecedented attack in the one place the world might never expect it ...
Fast forward months later and President Banning now has a new situation on his hands that's taking up his time: A summit with South Korean Prime Minister (Keong Sim). North Korea, you see, has been threatening the DMZ, (The Korean Demilitarized Zone), leaving the threat of war prominent at any moment.
And the time it seems, may be now to make an unprecedented attack in the one place the world might never expect it ...
THE TAKE: "What if we made Die Hard in the White House?" That pretty much sums up what had to be the main pitch for Olympus Has Fallen, which might be able to do exactly what this year's actual Die Hard release failed to do: Generate excitement among movie audiences everywhere thanks to a mix of well-directed action sequences, tense, dramatic and intelligently dramatic dialogue with a plausible story ripped from today's real world news.
If there's one thing I could pass along to Gerard Butler, it would be this: Yes, I know you want to show your range as an actor, but c'mon man, let's face it: You're King Leonidas, man! Stick to what you do best – and the Aussie actor's case, it's playing a hero. (Sure, it might seem funny to some people an Australian actor is saving the day for America in Olympus, but if you think about how many foreign actors are starring in American leading roles today, it's really commonplace, actually.) Butler flexes his muscle (mentally and physically) in top condition throughout Olympus, playing well off a strong performance by Rick Yune as one of the more well-constructed, intimidating and intriguing villians in recent movie memory.
Yune has an undeniable presence on screen, which works well in contrast to Eckhart's iron-chinned (make that steely-jawed) reserve, Melissa Leo's unflinching performance as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan and Morgan Freeman being ... Morgan Freeman as Speaker of the House Trumbull. To quote a female friend of mine who saw the movie with me, "I'm not into Asian men ... But he would get it." (I'm paraphrasing only partially.)
Without ruining the movie, Olympus Has Fallen works largely due to director Antoine Fuqua's tight steering of the plot, crafting a very intense tale based in a potential real life situation that helps build an inherent sense of intrigue. While credit has to go to the cast for not giving into any action movie clichés, Fuqua deserves an equal if not greater amount for not setting them up with any conventions to do so. While the violence is intense, it is not gratuitous as it may be realistic. Likewise, whereas the characters are standard for the type of story presented, their development and execution is anything but and the crafting of the story is interesting enough to draw in men and women alike.
While the film is not perfect, it's definitely one of the more intelligent, well-done action movies to come down the pike in a very long time.
If there's one thing I could pass along to Gerard Butler, it would be this: Yes, I know you want to show your range as an actor, but c'mon man, let's face it: You're King Leonidas, man! Stick to what you do best – and the Aussie actor's case, it's playing a hero. (Sure, it might seem funny to some people an Australian actor is saving the day for America in Olympus, but if you think about how many foreign actors are starring in American leading roles today, it's really commonplace, actually.) Butler flexes his muscle (mentally and physically) in top condition throughout Olympus, playing well off a strong performance by Rick Yune as one of the more well-constructed, intimidating and intriguing villians in recent movie memory.
Yune has an undeniable presence on screen, which works well in contrast to Eckhart's iron-chinned (make that steely-jawed) reserve, Melissa Leo's unflinching performance as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan and Morgan Freeman being ... Morgan Freeman as Speaker of the House Trumbull. To quote a female friend of mine who saw the movie with me, "I'm not into Asian men ... But he would get it." (I'm paraphrasing only partially.)
Without ruining the movie, Olympus Has Fallen works largely due to director Antoine Fuqua's tight steering of the plot, crafting a very intense tale based in a potential real life situation that helps build an inherent sense of intrigue. While credit has to go to the cast for not giving into any action movie clichés, Fuqua deserves an equal if not greater amount for not setting them up with any conventions to do so. While the violence is intense, it is not gratuitous as it may be realistic. Likewise, whereas the characters are standard for the type of story presented, their development and execution is anything but and the crafting of the story is interesting enough to draw in men and women alike.
While the film is not perfect, it's definitely one of the more intelligent, well-done action movies to come down the pike in a very long time.
PARTING SHOT: A film that uses a very traditional story backdrop to craft a solid action movie, Olympus Has Fallen might just rise to the top of the box office this weekend.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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