OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN - FILM REVIEW


                                    OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN - FILM REVIEW 




In all good v/s evil showdowns in Hollywood movies, when you think of a kidnapping scene, Bruce Willis' Die Hard immediately comes to the mind. The Antonie Funqua directed film Olympus has fallen too like many other films has derived inspiration from this all time best movie. Well, there is no Bruce Willis in this film but Gerard Butler does a pretty good job to keep the baddies at bay. And the stage is set. More so, the location which the baddies attack and keep people hostage is no ordinary building but the safest building on the planet - The White House.

Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is one of the top most security agents in the American President's security team. He has a personal relationship with the first family especially Presidents little son Connor. While the President and his family are returning from Camp David on a Christmas night, the convoy meets with an accident. Banning tries his best to save the first family but is not able to save the First Lady, an event which leads to his demotion.

Banning now works for the US treasury department. After a few months, the South Korean Prime Minister comes to meet the President accompanied by his security guards who turn out to be North Korean terrorists led by Kang Yeonsak (Rick Yune). They are able to breach the security with the help of another ex-security agent Dave (Dylan Mcdermot). Within a few minutes Washington DC is attacked by terrorists who jump the gun to trigger panic and reduce the White House into rubble. The president, the Vice President and the Secretary of Defense are held captive. The terrorists want the President to withdraw US troops from the Korean Peninsula. They also want to gain access to a system called Cereberus which has three codes - one each with the President, the Vice President and the Secretary.  With gaining access to Cerebrus, they can detonate the nuclear missiles in its silos. Kang was confident of getting the access codes possessed by the VP and the secretary and intended to capture Connor Asher to get access to the code from the President. However, he has to flush out an intruder in the house - Mike Banning.

Banning surreptitiously moves inside the White House since he possesses inside information from his erstwhile job. He achieves his prime objective to save Connor and then moves in to kill the terrorists. Kang however succeeds in accessing those codes and activates the detonation nuclear missiles. The climax leads to a hand to hand fight between Banning and Kang. Banning gloriously conquers Kang but has still job to do which was to deactivate Cerebrus. He eventually succeeds and the saves the President and his country. He thus earns his lost reputation and job.

It’s a fast action movie and keeps the adrenalin enthusiasts glued to their seats. People who have an addictive clinging with the Bruce Willis’ movie wouldn't stop comparisons. And that goes against the film. But this is not Die Hard and Butler is no Willis. But he adds a fresh lease of life to the film. If you think you want to see Bruce Willis like charisma in this film, you would be disappointed. Morgan Freeman is also a positively contributing factor in his role as an acting President but gives a feeling that he could have done more. Aaron Eckhart also has acted well as the President. Having said that, Olympus has fallen is definitely a watchable film.

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