This movie falls into the "tragicomedy" category, meaning that once the movie is finished and the credits are on you'll weep for your money (the tragedy part) and, in the mean time, you'll laugh at the poor saps that bought tickets for the next show (the comic part). It is so idiotic in all its aspects that it makes "After Earth" an Oscar winner... (We'll deal with the latter in a few days).
The plot unveils like this: ex Special Forces operative and former presidential bodyguard Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) gets to fight to take back the White House from terrorists who have kidnapped the Commander In Chief (Aaron Eckhart). Aaron Eckhart is not the smart choice for a presidential character, but I'm not in the casting team, so what the hell, let's go with him! In the aftermath of a tragic accident involving the President and the First Lady (Ashley Judd, which has about 2 minutes of exposure in this movie) Mike Banning is handed with his walking papers. Fast forward, the terrorists take over the White House, it's a North Korean faction of "United Front of Whoever Gives A F**k" (as they say in the movie). Dylan McDermott, agent Forbes in the plot and co-conspirator, dies by the hand of Mike Banning, not before he gets to spew platitudes, obviously.
With the President taken hostage and the Secretary of Defense, Ruth McMillan (Melissa Leo) beaten to the pulp, but still chanting the pledge of allegiance while dragged across the floor, here comes Speaker Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman), who becomes the actual president. Have I mentioned that the characters portrayed by Dylan McDermott and Ashley Judd died already? And here it comes Mike Banning, taking charge, fighting remote machine-guns with a pistol, it was not a Colt .45, I checked it...
Turns out that the terrorists were after the Cerberus codes. You have no idea what Cerberus means? It's the program that launches an all-out nuclear attack. Except this time, when it is contained within the borders of the US. In other words, if you have a nuclear silo within your state limits, Kang (Ricky Yume) plans to make it go boom.
Still, as Jon Stewart said, "once you have Morgan Freeman playing in a movie, you know that everything's gonna be alright". Airplane bomber with anti-heatseeker tehnology? Fuck it, we'll send two Raptors to be shot down into the ground... Then, as an immediate response, we'll send another Raptor, all by itself, just to be sure. Dylan McDermott's character dies, and even as he dies he's not credible. We get rid of Ashley Judd at the beginning of the movie. Why the hell did Morgan Freeman accept this gig?
This movie is chock full of cliches, from the beginning till the very end. Secret Service Director Lynn Jacobs (Angela Basset) is either cursing or stating the obvious. After 9/11 you would expect some degree of protection over the White House, but not in this movie. The "Hydra Six" thingies at the top of the White House are just anti-aircraft-remote-controlled guns, which, in this case, are not working properly. What the hell was Morgan Freeman thinking when he accepted playing a part in this movie? Despite all the heavy machinery, Mike Banning survives. Dylan McDermott, much like Kerry Washington in "Scandal" has a face that prone him to burst into tears any minute now (Remember "The practice"?)
But, in the end, there is Gerard Butler, who inadvertently saves the day. Probably he has some experience from "300". This was a really bad movie, with a crappy plot. In the year 2100 people would probably study this film as an "peculiar response to human behavior". DO NOT PAY FOR THE TICKET! Buy your children an ice cream...
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