Movie Review: London Has Fallen (2016)

Hello All,

Sorry for the wait on this one. I thought I had more time to get this done, but then I learned two very important things recently. One: It’s going to be March break next week, and Two: there are four new movies coming out then. They are: 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Brothers Grimsby, The Little Prince, and The Young Messiah. So yeah, I have a bit of a long week ahead of me. So yeah, let’s get this review done shall we?

Plot Summary - Two years after a drone strike attack on a well known arms dealer, the British Prime Minister has died, and his state funeral brings together all the world's leaders. Just as the leaders arrive, the arms dealer men launches his attack on London, killing several world leaders, but leaving President Asher (Aaron Eckhart) and secret service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) alone in the streets of London, trying to survive.

Pros - The cast is pretty on point in this film, as they seem like they’re taking the material seriously. The action scenes are pretty cool, as there’s also a pretty cool one take shootout that goes down a street. The few there are are also good as well, and they even have the president shooting terrorists, which I’ll admit is a pretty cool thing to see happen.

Cons - Okay, the biggest problem with this film right off the bat, is the execution of it’s premise. Basically, without trying to spoil it, they blow up several key landmarks and somehow manage to completely overrun the city, and the manner in which they did is complete bullshit. They barely answer how they managed to pull it off, and even then it just brings up more questions than answers. I know it’s a movie it doesn’t have to make sense, but at least with the first film suspension of disbelief actually kicked in and plus it was an attack on just one building (mostly) which we have sadly seen far too much of as human beings, so it’s more like a slight exaggeration of true events then the pure fantasy this movie felt like. It’s also a lot more heavy handed with “America Fuck Yeah” theme than the first one, which as a non american can get kind of grating at a certain point. The story is also a lot more cliched this time around, as key scenes are a lot more predictable this time around which ruins your enjoyment of the movie. There’s also a subplot concerning an MI6 Agent Mike knows that adds a total of maybe ten minutes to the movies run time, and she’s the one who answers the biggest question in the movie.

Final Score - 3/10

The first one of the year by my count, it has a few interesting moments but overall it’s boring and pointless. I actually left about a minute before it actually finished because believe or not the last scene is in the trailer and I really had to use the washroom. With four new films coming out, you’re better off waiting for one of them instead.

Next: The Brothers Grimsby - Just confirmed while writing this actually, haven’t seen a Sacha Baron Cohen movie since Borat, so what could possibly go wrong (God help me.)

Until then, I’ll see you folks at the movies.