London Has Fallen

Set three years after the events of Olympus Has Fallen, London Has Fallen follows secret service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) as he must once again spring into action after the president (Aaron Eckhart’s Benjamin Asher) is abducted by ruthless terrorists. It’s ultimately rather impressive just how closely Olympus Has Fallen and now London Has Fallen hew to one another in terms of quality and entertainment value, as the two films share a decidedly erratic atmosphere that’s reflected in their stellar opening stretches and middling, mediocre midsections. Though it takes a while to get going, London Has Fallen boasts a spectacular (albeit cheap-looking) sequence revolving around the execution of several world leaders at a London-based funeral – with the effectiveness of this interlude (which also includes a car chase!) unfortunately not indicative of everything that ultimately follows. The movie, like its predecessor, progresses into a second act consisting mostly of Butler’s character’s surreptitious, murderous antics within a myriad of hopelessly dark environments, and it is, as a result, not surprising to note that one’s interest begins to dwindle on a progressively pronounced basis – with the gleefully over-the-top final stretch subsequently unable to pack the exciting, visceral punch that’s clearly been intended. Still, London Has Fallen contains enough unapologetically broad thrills to warrant a mild recommendation and it is, of course, impossible to go wrong with a film in which the central villain is described as being “responsible for more deaths than the plague.”

**1/2 out of ****