White House Down
Remember how I said Olympus Has Fallen is basically Die Hard in the White House?
No, this is Die Hard in the White House.
Much MUCH better than OHF despite having basically the same plot, but with 1000% less racism and less needless fridging of female characters. Just on that count, it is better. But it's also better because I prefer Channing Tatum over Gerard Butler and this one is directed by Roland Emmerich.
It is indeed ridic and stupid and loud and implausible. That's the way I like it.
I hope I'm not spoiling, but it IS a Roland Emmerich movie, so I don't suppose anybody really cares on that count, but THANK GOD the terrorists are disgruntled white people in this one. There isn't even really a feign. Like Iron Man 3 kinda did a solid by subverting the Mandarin, but it's STILL playing on some very tired tropes and honestly maybe unto itself is still kinda racist. WHD didn't do that, so despite the fact that this made for a bunch more white people, it's a lot more palatable than, say, Olympus Has Fallen which featured a bunch of nameless Korean faces getting murderated by Gerard Butler. And btw, I was pretty vexed with OHF, too, that the white guy traitor got more characterization than Rick Yune, so they still made it about white people anyway.
I greatly enjoyed Maggie Gyllenhaal, whose character, I believe, is the Deputy Chief of the Secret Service? Not THE Chief of the Secret Service like Angela Bassett was in OHF, but still pretty damn all right. Usually I hate the fuck out of Jamie Foxx, but he was really enjoyable as the President. Olympus Has Fallen took itself REALLY REALLY seriously. White House Down is a lot more fun, had more amusing moments. Like, I realize it's some crazy shit going down, but if it's going to be a summer action blockbuster, I need my touches of humor. I also appreciate the less body count for the good guys. Something like 80 Secret Service agents get brutally, horribly killed in OHF. A bunch of them get killed, too, of course, in White House Down, but it feels significantly less and there's less dwelling upon their dead dead bullet riddled bodies. Which I realize is a product of the difference in rating (OHF is R, WHD is PG-13), but that goes to show that sometimes a higher rating is not necessarily better.
There was a child in this movie. A girlchild. SHE IS AWESOME. Apparently she was bb Talia from The Dark Knight Rises. I KNEW those big blue eyes looked familiar. Emily, as she is in WHD, is the exact kind of child character I can get behind. I love that she's a history nerd but is not shamed for it. She isn't precocious sassy movie child. She displays just the right balance between heroism and terror. I love that she is astute and smart and brave and given her dues as such and she's a girl. I stan for this girl. I hope Joey King has an amazing career ahead of her, 'cause she was fucking awesome.
My only complaint is Channing's character falls into the trope of "fuck up dad who is redeemed by amazing feat of heroism." Emmerich seems really into this? Dennis Quaid was a lousy fuck up of a father in Day After Tomorrow. John Cusack was a lousy fuck up of a father in 2012. They both rescue their kids from epic natural disaster and suddenly their kids love them again. Same deal here with Channing. It rubs me the wrong way because I feel like it's an already established fact that white dudes can fuck up all the time and still come back from it, but the rest of us don't have it so lucky. I resent it. I don't want to be reminded of it. I get that it's a character thing: oh, look, Maggie Gyllenhaal lists Channing's list of shortcomings, but he's tried really hard y'all and he got a raw deal, and now he's rescuing the president AND his daughter, he's totally a legit okay guy after all. But idk, all the stuff listed as his character flaws are pretty legit character flaws. So. Well, at least Channing is pretty.
AND SPEAKING OF GORGEOUS CHANNING. THREE-PIECE SUIT. And I thought Gerard was blowing my panties away with his actiony rifled hotness in a three-piece suit. Nope nope nope. CHANNING.
Oh, and there was Jimmi Simpson up in there, and I couldn't help but think he's totally evil Logan Pierce in this movie.
In conclusion, I enjoyed the fuck out of this movie.
No, this is Die Hard in the White House.
Much MUCH better than OHF despite having basically the same plot, but with 1000% less racism and less needless fridging of female characters. Just on that count, it is better. But it's also better because I prefer Channing Tatum over Gerard Butler and this one is directed by Roland Emmerich.
It is indeed ridic and stupid and loud and implausible. That's the way I like it.
I hope I'm not spoiling, but it IS a Roland Emmerich movie, so I don't suppose anybody really cares on that count, but THANK GOD the terrorists are disgruntled white people in this one. There isn't even really a feign. Like Iron Man 3 kinda did a solid by subverting the Mandarin, but it's STILL playing on some very tired tropes and honestly maybe unto itself is still kinda racist. WHD didn't do that, so despite the fact that this made for a bunch more white people, it's a lot more palatable than, say, Olympus Has Fallen which featured a bunch of nameless Korean faces getting murderated by Gerard Butler. And btw, I was pretty vexed with OHF, too, that the white guy traitor got more characterization than Rick Yune, so they still made it about white people anyway.
I greatly enjoyed Maggie Gyllenhaal, whose character, I believe, is the Deputy Chief of the Secret Service? Not THE Chief of the Secret Service like Angela Bassett was in OHF, but still pretty damn all right. Usually I hate the fuck out of Jamie Foxx, but he was really enjoyable as the President. Olympus Has Fallen took itself REALLY REALLY seriously. White House Down is a lot more fun, had more amusing moments. Like, I realize it's some crazy shit going down, but if it's going to be a summer action blockbuster, I need my touches of humor. I also appreciate the less body count for the good guys. Something like 80 Secret Service agents get brutally, horribly killed in OHF. A bunch of them get killed, too, of course, in White House Down, but it feels significantly less and there's less dwelling upon their dead dead bullet riddled bodies. Which I realize is a product of the difference in rating (OHF is R, WHD is PG-13), but that goes to show that sometimes a higher rating is not necessarily better.
There was a child in this movie. A girlchild. SHE IS AWESOME. Apparently she was bb Talia from The Dark Knight Rises. I KNEW those big blue eyes looked familiar. Emily, as she is in WHD, is the exact kind of child character I can get behind. I love that she's a history nerd but is not shamed for it. She isn't precocious sassy movie child. She displays just the right balance between heroism and terror. I love that she is astute and smart and brave and given her dues as such and she's a girl. I stan for this girl. I hope Joey King has an amazing career ahead of her, 'cause she was fucking awesome.
My only complaint is Channing's character falls into the trope of "fuck up dad who is redeemed by amazing feat of heroism." Emmerich seems really into this? Dennis Quaid was a lousy fuck up of a father in Day After Tomorrow. John Cusack was a lousy fuck up of a father in 2012. They both rescue their kids from epic natural disaster and suddenly their kids love them again. Same deal here with Channing. It rubs me the wrong way because I feel like it's an already established fact that white dudes can fuck up all the time and still come back from it, but the rest of us don't have it so lucky. I resent it. I don't want to be reminded of it. I get that it's a character thing: oh, look, Maggie Gyllenhaal lists Channing's list of shortcomings, but he's tried really hard y'all and he got a raw deal, and now he's rescuing the president AND his daughter, he's totally a legit okay guy after all. But idk, all the stuff listed as his character flaws are pretty legit character flaws. So. Well, at least Channing is pretty.
AND SPEAKING OF GORGEOUS CHANNING. THREE-PIECE SUIT. And I thought Gerard was blowing my panties away with his actiony rifled hotness in a three-piece suit. Nope nope nope. CHANNING.
Oh, and there was Jimmi Simpson up in there, and I couldn't help but think he's totally evil Logan Pierce in this movie.
In conclusion, I enjoyed the fuck out of this movie.