London Has Fallen
2016
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The sleepy, dopey action bonanza “Angel Has Fallen” is disappointing, and not just for the reasons you might expect. Being the second sequel to “ Olympus Has Fallen ,” “Angel Has Fallen” doesn’t even have a high bar to clear.
Aug 23, 2019 · Authorities take Secret Service agent Mike Banning into custody for the failed assassination attempt of U.S. President Allan Trumbull. After escaping from his captors, Banning must evade the FBI ...
- (190)
- Ric Roman Waugh
- R
- Gerard Butler
- Secret Service Agent Mike Banning returns to save the president once more.
- Angel Has Fallen Gallery
- Verdict
By Joey Esposito
Updated: Aug 21, 2019 4:20 pm
Posted: Aug 21, 2019 7:00 am
Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) has seen more action in his career as a Secret Service Agent than most superheroes see in a lifetime, but Angel Has Fallen pits the rugged hero against a new threat to the president he is sworn to protect: himself.
In the second sequel to 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen, Banning is dealing with a mild addiction to painkillers stemming from a series of concussions he’s suffered on the job throughout his career, keeping his physical struggles a secret from his wife Leah (Piper Perabo, taking over for Radha Mitchell) and his superiors, President Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) and Secret Service Director David Gentry (Lance Reddick).
Early on, we’re introduced to an old Army buddy of Banning’s, Wade Jennings (Danny Huston), who is now operating his own high-level private security firm. Through this relationship, we’re introduced to the intended throughline of Angel Has Fallen: can “lions” like Banning and Jennings, who thrive on the front lines being in the action, make the transition to being a man behind the scenes when their body tells them it’s time to quit? When do the sacrifices you’ve made in the line of duty finally become enough? This is the Major scale on which the film attempts to improvise to mixed success.
The movie shines brightest when it focuses on the macro action—shootouts and explosions—rather than the micro, more personal hand-to-hand combat it attempts from time to time. It’s astonishing to watch the climactic gun battle showcase a workable understanding of geography and timing, only to see it evaporate when it comes down to a rooftop battle between our hero and the villain. The same goes for a few sequences early on in which Banning takes down some baddies with his bare knuckles; scenes that should be riveting and showcase the resolve of our hero but are instead lost in the muck of quick cuts and indistinguishable snarling faces.
The said, Angel Has Fallen finds a better balance between the hyper-violence of Olympus and the misplaced self-importance of London Has Fallen, swirling around some interesting ideas about giving one’s country everything and it not returning the favor. This element of the film picks up most notably with the introduction of Banning’s estranged, paranoid father, Clay (a scene-stealing Nick Nolte), himself a veteran of war wrestling with his own demons.
The strained relationship of the Banning boys, mired in the conflict between Mike’s sense of duty and Clay’s conviction that the government will demand everything of you but give nothing in return, is the most compelling relationship in the movie and retroactively makes Mike’s desire to recognize a father figure in Trumbull more understandable. It presents the kernels of an exploration of masculinity, country, and PTSD that could have turned Angel into a more thoughtful piece of work if it had such aspirations, but instead settles comfortably back into the No Guts, No Glory mentality this series has championed from the beginning. Instead of digging deep into these issues, Angel settles on a few well-acted scenes between Butler and Nolte to do the trick before justifying a return to form.
Similarly, Angel recycles familiar twists and turns that we’ve seen many times over in films of a similar ilk—including the Fallen moves themselves. If you’ve seen the other entries in the series once or twice and watched the trailer for Angel, it’s not a difficult task to formulate the plot of this paint-by-numbers action thriller.
Angel Has Fallen still can’t match the fun, over-the-top, highest-stakes-possible action romp of Olympus, but does offer a fresh perspective on this world that’s a little less self-important than its predecessor. The action is aggressively mediocre in a post-John Wick world, but there are more than a few inspired action beats sprinkled throughout. ...
Aug 22, 2019 · But you’re only as good as your last rescue, and the one that jump-starts “Angel Has Fallen” — lethal drones target the president (Morgan Freeman) during a fishing excursion, slaughtering ...
- Ric Roman Waugh
Endless, numbing violence in overly long action threequel. Read Common Sense Media's Angel Has Fallen review, age rating, and parents guide.
- Ric Roman Waugh
- Joyce Slaton
- Summit Entertainment
Aug 23, 2019 · Angel Has Fallen: Directed by Ric Roman Waugh. With Gerard Butler, Frederick Schmidt, Danny Huston, Rocci Boy Williams. Mike Banning is framed for the attempted assassination of the President and must evade his own agency and the FBI as he tries to uncover the real threat.
Aug 23, 2019 · The sleepy, dopey action bonanza Angel Has Fallen is disappointing, and not just for the reasons you might expect. Read More By Simon Abrams FULL REVIEW
