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Created Mar 29, 2013 08:15PM PST • Edited Aug 25, 2019 04:13AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Good 3.0

   Spectacular calamity followed by impressive vengeance makes Olympus Has Fallen an amply satisfying cinematic experience. So what if it’s jingoism. It’s extremely well executed jingoism, by jingo! Patriotic action-movie fans – like me – happen to like this sort of button-pushing entertainment.

   Don’t call it mindless. It may be insanely surreal, but not mindless. Delivered with first rate production values, it visualizes the inside world of the First Family at peace and under attack, a taste of power that never grows old. The attack postulates a ridiculous terrorist scenario, but also proves thought provoking about American power in the world, especially the important role our troops play in Korea some sixty years after the armistice.

   Most importantly, Olympus Has Fallen proves we really must be over 9/11, since it imagines an attack that would exceed 9/11 in the national psyche. Yes, exceed it. Perhaps by going all the way out there, it could only exist in the movies and therefore be entertaining. The producers of Olympus Has Fallen weren’t alone in coming to this conclusion, as another similar movie is waiting in wings. That would be White House Down, set to premiere in late June.

   Saw it at the Century 21, center of Row 8. Gotta love the full dome for a big time action movie.

4. Acting

   Very Good 3.5

   Gerard Butler is plenty adequate as an action hero. He’s not great but he’s likable and convincing in the clinches. Dylan McDermott matches up well to him as an ex-agent gone into private practice.

   Aaron Eckhart is damn near typecast as a macho POTUS. Ashley Judd impresses more than usual as his wife. Good thing she’s sticking to her day job. Finally, Finley Jacobsen is fine as their son.

   Morgan Freeman brings his unquestioned gravitas to the role of Speaker of the House and acting President. For the man who played God, it’s actually a demotion.

   Rick Yune is adequate as the Dr. Evil baddie, though he’s too cold-blooded for my taste.

   Angela Bassett, Melissa Leo and Robert Forster are big names in window-dressing roles as the head of the Secret Service, SecDef and Army Chief of Staff respectively. Mostly they’re called upon to react to bad news, fulminate and occasionally stand up to torture.

   Radha Mitchell jumps off screen as Gerard Butler’s wife.

   Finally, let’s hear it for the 100 stuntmen. They made the movie.

5. Male Stars Very Good 3.5

6. Female Stars Very Good 3.5

7. Female Costars Very Good 3.5

8. Male Costars Very Good 3.5

10. Film

    OK 2.5

    Notable credits -

    • The F-22 mockup technicians gave us stealth fighters up close and personal.
    • The 22 drivers flung around the Presidential Limo, Army Trucks, Secret Service SUVs, etc., etc.
    • The huge 2nd Unit must’ve delivered half the film.
    • The tons of 2D and 3D compositors gave us a White House that gets destroyed in a monstrous fire fight, starting when it comes under attack from an airborne gunship. And so on… Interestingly, the FX folks are mostly from Bulgaria. Wonder how they felt about virtually destroying the seat of US power from an outpost of the old Soviet Union?
    • The 15 Asset Artists did what, exactly?

    So what if the direction and screenplay are OK at best. The visuals are GREAT!

11. Direction OK 2.5

12. Play Barely OK 2.0

13. Music Good 3.0

14. Visuals Great 4.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 2.4

    The White House gets taken out in a terrorist attack, during and after which platoons of Secret Service agents, police and US soldiers are massacred. Not for the faint of heart.

17. Sex Innocent 1.0

18. Violence Savage 3.7

19. Rudeness Profane 2.6

21. Reality

    Surreal 3.0

    4x CircoReality & 3x PhysioReality & 2x BioReality = 3x Overall Reality, aka Severely Surreal

    As to the most extreme of these, the story is Circumstantially Supernatural. Not that there’s monsters and ghosts and shit, just that the confluence of events defies any sense of natural circumstantial possibility.

    Movie reality aside, the underlying reality leads to two observations:

    • Koreans can’t be liking this movie. North Korea is an obvious movie villain these days, since they are a real life villain on their peninsula and around the world. However the movie also slimes South Korea. That’s needlessly nasty, silly too.
    • The movie points up the peacekeeping importance of American power projection around the world. It does this by blackmailing the POTUS into withdrawing US troops from the Korean DMZ. This led to a reflection of how the current POTUS meekly withdrew our residual force from Iraq, where they could and should have remained given proper Presidential leadership. Thus we missed the chance to achieve something similar to how our forces stabilized Korea and Germany for decades after their respective wars ended.

22. Circumstantial Supernatural 4.0

23. Biological Glib 2.0

24. Physical Surreal 3.0