Review: Olympus Has Fallen

   
    Going into this I really didn't know what to expect. Was it going to be cheesy beyond all belief? Was the CGI going to be very dual? Was it going to just be a hostage situation with no plan and be up to one guy to save them all? Well, yes and no. Olympus Has Fallen  has a fairly simple premise, North Korean terrorist plan an attack on the White House that is successful and they take the President and some of his staff hostage. Why you ask? Well is not for money, one of the first times that has happened, but for a much bigger and logical reason, for the U.S. the stay out of Korea. But of course I don't want to spoil anything so you'll have to go see it if you want the rest of the details, which are good and reasonable ones.
    The cast in this action packed thriller is great. We have Gerard Butler, finally getting back into the action genre, Aaron Eckhart, Dylan McDermott, Melissa Leo, and Morgan Freeman. Gerard Butler plays the hero Secret Service agent left alone in the White House, and it is up to him to stop the terrorists. Aaron Eckhart plays President Asher taken hostage along with his staff. Dylan McDermott plays a fellow Secret Service agent with a twist and Melissa Leo as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan. Since the President and Vice President are being held hostage the Speaker of the House is the acting President, and who better than Morgan Freeman to take control.
    This great cast really does a great job especially Gerard Butler, who needed a career booster. Aaron Eckhart is hard to picture as President, but really delivers well even if some of his speeches are a little cliched. McDermott's character is developed a little fast, but he is able revive it with some good scenes where his anger is shown or trying to hide something. This is not Melissa Leo's best performance, I mean it is hard to beat The Fighter, but I liked what she did with her character in very crucial scenes that are important to the plot by displaying a good amount of anger. Finally, Morgan Freeman is, well, Morgan Freeman, once he is called to take control of America that is what he does, he takes control of most of the dialog throughout the movie with great fashion.
    From the beginning to end it really is almost nonstop action, although we do get some time to be introduce to characters, which doesn't take long, so the pacing is not hurt too bad. The attack scene on D.C. and the White House is probably the best part of the film because, even though you know it is coming, it is shocking to see and it is done well. The writers wrote a very good attack plan that is edge of your seat action with an attack from the air and disguised terrorist on the ground. Most of the CGI work in the movie was in the attack scene and it was not disappointing. It was just enough to make it feel real along with enough real explosions that were not CGI, a very good mix of the two.
    After the attack scene the rest of the movie takes place inside the White House, which is where Gerard Butler takes over. During those scenes, thanks to director Antoine Fuqua who helped give us a great performance from Butler, we are put through a lot of exciting fight scenes that Gerard controls. It is dark throughout the movie because it is at night, which did make some scenes hard to see, but it was that effect that made it feel more real and enough lighting to tell what exactly was going on. The editing was also very good during the attack scene and the very fast paced fight scenes, which helped the movie a lot.
    However, the score is not the best, mainly during the fight scenes though, because it does not give the movie anymore power to it, except for some deep and fast drums during the attack scene, which does help it out. This is not the most original movie because it is, in the end, essentially Die Hard in the White House, but as I said earlier it is not about money, it is about something more. With a great performance from Gerard Butler, although his Scottish accent slips out a few times, this is a very good action film and will, for the most part, not leave you disappointed. 3/4 Stars.