Today’s quick review: London Has Fallen. The funeral of the British Prime Minister turns into a bloodbath when a terrorist group launches a devastating attack on the visiting heads of state. Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) must escort President Ben Asher (Aaron Eckhart) through the hostile streets of London to get him to safety. But with terrorists posing as police and a mole in British security, safety will be hard to come by.
London Has Fallen is a gritty action thriller and the sequel to Olympus Has Fallen. London Has Fallen follows the same recipe as its predecessor: large-scale destruction, non-stop action, and a likable protagonist. The one major change is the setting; rather than a siege at the White House, the sequel has a running escape across London. London Has Fallen scratches the action itch quite well, but it misses the chance to become something more.
London Has Fallen gets its fundamentals right. Mike Banning makes for just as effective a hero as before, a calm, efficient ex-Ranger with just the right amount of attitude. The action sequences run the gamut from gritty hand-to-hand combat to sprawling firefights to special effects-fueled explosions. After a brief itnroduction to set the stage, the action never lets up for more than a few minutes at a time until the end of the movie.
London Has Fallen does miss out on a few of the strengths of its predecessor. Where the first film spent time establishing the relationship between Mike and Ben, the sequel takes its characters for granted. There’s no personal angle to make the plot more dramatic and little in the way of character growth. The plot also skimps on complexity once it gets rolling. None of the subplots amount to anything, and the main plot is highly linear.
The result is a credible sequel that’s a slight step down from the original. Those hoping for high drama or an intricate plot will be disappointed. But those who enjoy action for its own sake will appreciate London Has Fallen for the sheer spectacle. For an action thriller with similar plot elements and a spy genre twist, try Skyfall. For an unconventional political thriller with a more mysterious plot, try Vantage Point.
5.9 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 to 7.0 for strong action but little else.