I try to be picky with the movies I see in theatres.  Between the cost in dollars and the cost in time, I don't just see everything that comes to the local multiplex.  I'm even pickier when it comes to action movies.  If it doesn't fall within a certain genre (superhero, sci-fi) that I want to see anyway, it makes it hard to spend the money on seeing it on the big screen.  I didn't see the most recent Die Hard movie...and I won't see the next Die Hard movie.  But I wanted to see Olympus Has Fallen.

The previews showed a group of bad guys taking over the White House, taking the President of the United States hostage, and blowing up or destroying various parts of Washington DC.  The Washington Monument crumbles, windows of the White House explode outward, flames and smoke are all over the place.  Not typically the kind of movie I'm interested in...but I wanted to see it.  So a friend and I went and saw it last Friday, and it was entertaining.

A big part of the entertainment was in the casting.  The ex-Secret Service agent who needs to try and rescue the president is Gerard Butler, who has flopped in recent romantic comedies, but is pretty darn good as an action hero.  The president is Aaron Eckhart, who I like in pretty much everything I've seen him in.  Other big names are Morgan Freeman as the Speaker of the House, Angela Bassett as the Secret Service Director, and Dylan McDermott as another Secret Service agent.  I enjoyed the cast, and they were good in those characters.  A newcomer to me was Rick Yune, who as Kang is the leader of a North Korean terrorist organization who infiltrates the White House. 

The movie is undeniably formulaic, but it's very good at using that formula to tell a good story.  I cringed at a few of the cheesier "patriotic" moments, like the American flag in tatters, fluttering in slow motion to the ground as those nasty North Koreans took over the White House.  Overall though, the peril felt real, the heroics seemed genuine.  Sure, it's an action movie, and there's not any real message or moral to the story--it's essentially eye candy.  But it does it well.

My only caveat is something that may just be an issue for certain audience members, but it could be an issue for you, so I'll mention it.  It's only been recently that I can watch New York or Washington DC under attack without getting overly tense; I live in Salt Lake City, and I still have some kind of post-traumatic stress left over from the terrorist attacks on 9/11.  So if you're sensitive to scenes of violence that have planes attacking national monuments--this probably isn't for you. 

Otherwise, this is an entertaining, violent movie that will have you ready to defend your own national landmarks against a Red Dawn-style invasion by North Korea.  Don't take it out on the nice Asian family down the street.  They're probably fine. 

Recommended: Yes

Movie Mood: Action Movie