On the recommendation of my friend Cara, we rented the movie London Has Fallen this weekend.
The plot was simplistic and trite. They trotted out every cliche in the genre. The characters were shallow and one-dimensional, except for the venerable Morgan Freeman, who could have phoned his performance in. The one distinguishing acting job goes to the ruthless and diabolical (though disturbingly justified) villain, who seems to continually threaten the West by falling asleep. The outcome was predictable before the opening credits rolled.
The film used pyrotechnics as if they were going out of style. London Bridge falling down is the least of England's troubles. The over the top gun play bordered on parody, the star single-handedly dispatched two-hundred heavily armed mercenaries and terrorists (none of whom have apparently heard of Kevlar) in non-stop gun battles, knife fights, and hand-to-hand combat.
(Special note to movie thugs: You're never going to win if you can't hit the broad side of a barn while spraying automatic fire, and the hero makes head shots with every bullet.)
The standard car chase used the textbook action movie moves: power slides, reverse 180s, and driving backward, shooting automatic weapons, while hanging out the open doors. The film even managed to squeeze in the ubiquitous helicopter crash.
Essentially, London Has Fallen is an excuse for two hours of gratuitous violence.
We watched it twice, and enjoyed every minute of it. A must see for action fans.
Trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=o2I7QOnCP9o
No comments:
Post a Comment