MOVIE REVIEW: Angel Has Fallen
(I Guess I Just Feel Like - John Mayer)
When 'Olympus Has Fallen' came out back in 2013, it was standing right next to another movie with a similar plot. After watching them both, I decided that OHF was the better film by far, owing primarily to the outstanding action scenes and Gerard Butler being...well, Gerard Butler.
Two movies later, we get to 'Angel Has Fallen', the third film in the franchise starring Butler's hapless Secret Service agent, Mike Banning. Wouldn't you know it? Someone's made an attempt on the life of the president again, and he's mixed up in it.
He pulled it off in the first movie and the second. Can he make it a hat trick?
THE SHORT VERSION:
Yes.
THE LONG VERSION:
There's very little that's cerebral about these films. They're popcorn action flicks designed to lean on heavy set dressing, explosions, combat, and Gerard Butler snarling at people. And really, that's a fine recipe for a film in this genre.
The story for the third film in the franchise is unremarkable and almost fully exposed in the trailers, so I won't bother going into it very much here. As I mentioned earlier, there's been yet another attempt on the presidency of the United States, and Butler's Agent Banning has to clean things up. The plot is completely transparent, the twists are so badly telegraphed that they're not really fit to be labeled as such, and the conclusion is foregone. If you're going to see this movie for anything other than sheer action porn, you're doing it wrong. If you liked the first two films, you're gonna like the third one.
The one very remarkable standout in the film is the introduction of Mike Banning's father, Clay Banning. Papa Banning is an ex-Ranger and a tunnel rat who has been missing off the grid for years and years now. All signs point towards him being a conspiracy theory-loving, Big Brother-fearing, more than a few marbles short stereotype.
Naturally, Nick Nolte absolutely NAILS it.
Anyone who has been keeping even the most remote of tracks on Nolte is aware of how absolutely fried he has become. He's perfect for the role, and in spite of the fact that his crispiness is dialed all the way up to eleven, he turns in the best performance in the entire film by leaps and bounds. Every minute that Nolte is on screen is laugh-out-loud funny or fiercely sobering. He's absolutely sublime. If you do nothing else, go see this movie to watch Nolte steal every scene he's in and calmly waddle away with them.
Also, wait for the mid-credits stinger. It's absolutely side-splitting.
When 'Olympus Has Fallen' came out back in 2013, it was standing right next to another movie with a similar plot. After watching them both, I decided that OHF was the better film by far, owing primarily to the outstanding action scenes and Gerard Butler being...well, Gerard Butler.
Two movies later, we get to 'Angel Has Fallen', the third film in the franchise starring Butler's hapless Secret Service agent, Mike Banning. Wouldn't you know it? Someone's made an attempt on the life of the president again, and he's mixed up in it.
He pulled it off in the first movie and the second. Can he make it a hat trick?
THE SHORT VERSION:
Yes.
THE LONG VERSION:
There's very little that's cerebral about these films. They're popcorn action flicks designed to lean on heavy set dressing, explosions, combat, and Gerard Butler snarling at people. And really, that's a fine recipe for a film in this genre.
The story for the third film in the franchise is unremarkable and almost fully exposed in the trailers, so I won't bother going into it very much here. As I mentioned earlier, there's been yet another attempt on the presidency of the United States, and Butler's Agent Banning has to clean things up. The plot is completely transparent, the twists are so badly telegraphed that they're not really fit to be labeled as such, and the conclusion is foregone. If you're going to see this movie for anything other than sheer action porn, you're doing it wrong. If you liked the first two films, you're gonna like the third one.
The one very remarkable standout in the film is the introduction of Mike Banning's father, Clay Banning. Papa Banning is an ex-Ranger and a tunnel rat who has been missing off the grid for years and years now. All signs point towards him being a conspiracy theory-loving, Big Brother-fearing, more than a few marbles short stereotype.
Naturally, Nick Nolte absolutely NAILS it.
Anyone who has been keeping even the most remote of tracks on Nolte is aware of how absolutely fried he has become. He's perfect for the role, and in spite of the fact that his crispiness is dialed all the way up to eleven, he turns in the best performance in the entire film by leaps and bounds. Every minute that Nolte is on screen is laugh-out-loud funny or fiercely sobering. He's absolutely sublime. If you do nothing else, go see this movie to watch Nolte steal every scene he's in and calmly waddle away with them.
Also, wait for the mid-credits stinger. It's absolutely side-splitting.
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