Let’s see now…..in ‘Olympus Has Fallen’, Gerard Butler saved the White House. In ‘London Has Fallen’, the sequel, Gerard Butler saved the UK. And now, in ‘Angel Has Fallen’, the third (..and final chapter? Let’s see if them big ol’ box office numbers determine THAT..) chapter of the action series, Gerard Butler is forced to save himself after he’s framed for the attempted murder of the very chap he’s paid to protect.
‘The Fugitive’ meets ‘In The Line Of Fire’? Count me in.
‘Angel Has Fallen’ is the kind of slab of adrenaline in which it’s easy to see a lot of faults. Yet, it’s so darn entertaining, it’s just as easy to ignore them, do a lot of two-fistin’ on the jumbo bag of popcorn, and enjoy.
The story has Butler’s character, secret service agent Mike Banning, about to be anointed head of security for the President, Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman). But some health issues and a pesky addiction to painkillers has Banning re-thinking the promotion. While he continues to struggle with his decision during a fishing getaway for the Chief, Trumbull and his entire security detail are attacked by killer drones, leaving the President in a coma and Mike the only other guy to survive. Enter the FBI, who discovers Banning’s DNA at the site of the attack, and a deposit of 10 million dollars from a Russian source.
Our hero is being framed, obviously. Thus, for the bulk of the film, Mike is on the run and destined for a showdown with the former pal (Danny Huston) who set him up. One nifty detour is a meeting with Banning’s pop (Nick Nolte), a grizzled off-the-grid and definitely offbeat character who hams it up to such a delightful degree, he’s easy to root for.
It ain’t brilliant stuff, but it’s fun. Suspension of disbelief is more of a requirement than a suggestion with this one, as the motives of both good guys and bad guys are questionable, some of the action – wild as it may be – borders on ludicrous, and the dialogue is as shallow as the gunfire is rampant. All that said – do I sound silly to claim that ALL of those cons only add to the charm of ‘Angel Has Fallen’?
Okay then, I’m silly. I’ll take that.
