London Has Fallen

Butler roolzz. London Has Fallen is a weaker little brother to a good part one. A conflict with Korea is lacking (both in reality and in the movie) and the terrorist villain isn’t demonic enough. Occasional serious moments rather subdue the bloody fun when Butler stabs his adversaries. Also the contrast between future dad and killer worse than the terrorists themselves is a little out of place here. But it’s fun. Fun for its naivety. The screenplay copies some B-movie hits from the nineties and gives them a new suit, but copies it too hastily, without caring whether it makes sense or not. But I would really welcome the next part with a better screenwriting team. I was smiling from ear to ear while watching. (19/04/2016)

Similar to the first one, except that Olympus Has Fallen was shot by a proven action director and the second one by no-name Babak Najafi, though it should be noted that he certainly didn't disgrace himself. Admittedly, the visuals are weaker, which clearly indicates that the budget wasn't the biggest and the director probably wasn't that trusted, but the ensemble cast handles it well and it doesn't take itself nearly as seriously as the first installment or even Air Force One. Harrison Ford was a more believable president than Aaron Eckhart, of course, but the banter between the main tandem is OK, and as long as you doesn't look for anything there, don't worry about realism, and don't get carried away by the decent action (the last big, approximately five-minute steadicam shootout with no cuts is great), it's impossible not to enjoy it in a fairly decent way. Plus, the subject of international terrorism is again more topical than ever. (05/06/2016)

A film that satisfies the viewer by making the main character give the terrorists not one, but at least four fierce stab wounds. Mentally, London Has Fallen is at the level of Fast & Furious, but without its sense of fun. The CGI, which is important for the film’s target audience, is only average. The movie is barely kept afloat by Gerard Butler’s charisma and a spectacular one-shot shootout just before the climax. (11/04/2016)

For the whole time I was watching this crazy movie I was wondering what it would be like if the main character was played by, for example, Steven Segal instead of Gerard Butler. And you know what? I might have liked it more. With this cast London Has Fallen isatotal crazy trip which actors like Butler, Freeman or Eckhart don’t deserve. The director is devastating London, nothing makes sense, there is shooting everywhere. And you don’t want that in an action movie with this kind of actors. (02/09/2019)

It was an improvement over Olympus in terms of quality. Most importantly, I got into the right vibe and managed to tune out most of the melodramatic, patriotic and determined speeches and acts, and enjoyed loads of frantic action during which the Americans totally devastated digital London and turned it into smithereens. I even enjoyed all the "amazing" escapes from tsunamis of fire which made me remember action movies from the eighties and early nineties. It was incredibly silly, but also a kind of guilty pleasure. (03/01/2020)