by Trina Boice
www.TrinaBoice.com
The White House is under attack….again. If you saw “
Isn’t it weird
when similar movies are released around the same time? Remember last summer’s “Snow White and the
Huntsman” and “Mirror, Mirror”? Granted,
they were completely different movies, but I guess it’s a matter of studios
spying on each other for movie themes and wanting to “one-up” each other. Like “Olympus Has Fallen”, “White House Down”
has received mixed reviews.
Including a funny
reference to the blockbuster “Independence Day” this action thriller was directed
by Roland Emmerich who also directed “Independence Day”, “2012” and “The Day
After Tomorrow.” He obviously loves
disasters and making messes, although this is the first time that the chaos is
confined to one specific location. Written
by James Vanderbilt, who also wrote “The Amazing Spider-Man”, this Sony release
doesn’t hit as hard or as funny as you might like, but is still enjoyable for
those who love explosions and lots and lots of gun fire. Lots.
Of course, if all
you care about is watching sexy actor-turned-action hero, Channing Tatum, then
you’re good to go. Tatum plays John Cale,
an ex-soldier underdog who visits the White House in hopes of securing a job
with the Secret Service. Jamie Foxx plays President Sawyer, an Obama-esque
leader who drops the only F-bomb in the flick. Touting a left-wing agenda of anti-military,
President Sawyer is ironically saved by the troops.
I noticed that
the summer popcorn movie scored fairly average on Rotten Tomatoes with many viewers
citing the “cheese factor”, as well as comparisons to the one-man-against-all-the-bad
guys style of all the “Die Hard” films. Tatum
even wears the classic dirty “wife-beater” t-shirt styled by Bruce Willis in
the franchise films. The “Die Hard”
formula has been a hit with many movie-goers for years, and this one will be
too. Unfortunately, it has some clichés
that make it a bit tired, such as the disgruntled teen who calls her father by
his first name until she sees what a true hero he really is, bad guys who have
superior fire power, yet can’t seem to ever hit their target, and characters
who walk away from a grenade that explodes only inches away from them.
It’s still a lot
of fun and reminds us that family is most important. Interestingly, both the evil mastermind and the
hero fight for family in “White House Down.” Take a tub of buttery popcorn and your teenage
boys.
Grade = B
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