Telling Stories: *******Movie Review********

Olympus Has Fallen

**Warning** -- There may be spoilers, or maybe there won’t be. Either way you have been warned.

So… let’s start by simply stating that this was a good “Action” movie. We could probably finish there too, because that's all it was. Nothing more, nothing less. Now do not get me wrong. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. I love a good action movie, and this is exactly that. For that simple fact alone, I enjoyed this movie. It was the action, it was excitement, and the story got you from point "A" to point "B". It followed the formula to the letter. (No pun intended.)

Getting the formula right is the key to any good “Action” movie. It has to have and underlying sense of fun. Things blowing up are fun. Throw in a few emotional high points for spice. Then toss into the mix your typical hero. In this case, we have Mike Banning, played by Gerard Butler. He’s a stand up guy, with a little baggage from his past. The character that is, for I don’t really know the actor. In this movie, most of the hero's baggage stems mainly from the fact that he was unable to save his friends wife while instead saving his friend, who happened to be the President of the United States, played by Aaron Eckhart. Obviously the friendship is strained and the two go their separate ways. Okay, in this case, the one friend with the slightly more power has the other reassigned.

Shall we cut to the chase? North Koreans dressed as tourist, and others disguised as members of the South Korean diplomatic party, launch a coordinated attack against the White House. Lots of things blow up. It was very impressive. The Washington Monument has the top clipped off by a crashing plane, and the North Koreans take control of the White House and the secure, super secret bunker underneath. The Hero Mike Banning shoots his way in, rescues the President’s son, half the White House is blown up, he kills all the bad guys, disarms a doomsday device, and then strolls out the front door with the President, and says one last witty remark. “Sorry about the house.” The two friends share a light laugh, as they walk past the bodies of many dead Secret Service agents and Terrorists.

That’s right boys and girls… “Action” movie. If you want an exciting movie, where things blow up and lots of people get shot, then this is your movie. If you were expecting Shakespeare, and honestly if you really were, then please ask the person next to you to smack you in the back of the head…. Twice.

With this type of movie, many will find much to complain about, I sure. So I will offer a few of my own to be fair. My major complaint was that I felt there were hints being dropped throughout about a conspiracy subplot, and I really thought Morgan Freeman was going to turn out to be the villain. I was mistaken. Not a single plot twist in the entire movie. It seemed like at some point, they chose to cut out the plot twist, and inserted the ticking time bomb for the hero to defuse. *Spoiler* - Surprise, he did it and saved the day at the last second.

My other complaint is that I thought the first “Die Hard” movie did this story better. Rick Yune who played Kang, the villain, was really a poor man’s version of Alan Rickman’s, Hans Gruber. Also the White House isn’t really that big, when compared to the Nakatomi Plaza Building in “Die Hard.” Though in both movies they did blow up the top of each during a helicopter landing, and in both movies the hero goes over the side during the explosion. No bloody feet on glass in this one though.

So do I recommend this movie? Yes! Most definitely! Shakespeare lovers should have a friend smack them now. Watch and enjoy this movie for the sheer fun of watching it. Hero wins and the villain dies. Trust me. It’s better than sitting through another one of the Oscar winners. Enjoy.