Olympus Has Fallen - C

Rated R, 108 minutes

Popcorn flick "Olympus Has Fallen" is mindless entertainment

Morgan Freeman

Terrorists take over the White House and it's up to Gerard Butler to save us all from destruction. That's the simplistic plot of the ridiculous but entertaining action film "Olympus Has Fallen," which is violent and rousing enough to round up the masses (most of whom probably didn't vote in the last election) at the box-office. Butler is Mike Banning, a disgraced ex-Secret Service agent who is sent to a desk job after a tragic accident involving the President (Aaron Eckhart). North Korean terrorists later take over the White House, threatening to kill the President and start some serious trouble. The Speaker of the House (Morgan Freeman) and the head of the Secret Service (Angela Bassett) and their team work with Banning, who is trapped inside the White House, to save the President and our country. Directed by Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day"), "Olympus Has Fallen" is an absurd but often fun attempt to resurrect the 1990s "Independence Day"-type destruction is fun type of mentality. Fuqua and Butler, neither of whom have ever been regarded as subtle artists, take everything they've got and throw it at the screen, peppering it with absurd fun. Admittedly, they have an impressive all-star ensemble cast, including Butler, Freeman, Eckhart and Bassett (whose spunk I always love), not to mention Robert Forster, Oscar-winner Melissa Leo, Dylan McDermott, Rick Yune, Cole Hauser, and in unfortunately small role, Ashley Judd as the First Lady. The simplistic good guys-versus-bad guys, testosterone filled antics recalls something Willis, Harrison Ford or Schwarzenegger would do back in their day. On that note, "Olympus Has Fallen" is pure escapist, mindless entertainment so don't expect fully developed characters, plotting or any revelatory acting, just lots of action, explosions and copious amounts of violence and blood. The highly exploitative climax is only designed to rouse some sort of patriotism, but it's laughably ironic given that in real life our hero Butler is actually Scottish. A big-budgeted, forgettable movie if there ever was one, "Olympus Has Fallen" should profitably please the masses, but that doesn't mean it's actually good.

Wes's Grade: C