A Dim-Witted Yet Amusingly Absurd Action Flick About Rescuing the American President from Hordes of Arab Terrorists.
Two years ago, the American military bombed the home of Pakistani arms dealer Amir Barkawi (Alon Aboutboul), killing his daughter. Now, Barkawi and his sons are ready to exact terrible revenge on the entire Western world. First, they orchestrate the secret assassination of the British Prime Minister. When all the leaders of Western countries gather for the funeral, Barkawi’s hired terrorists turn the center of London into a battlefield, killing several heads of state and their entourages. Only U.S. President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) and his head of security, Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), miraculously survive. There is no help to be expected – the London police and special services are completely paralyzed. So, the Americans survive on their own, shooting back and fighting off their pursuers.
The film was shot partly in London, partly in India, and at the “Boyana” studio in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Three years ago, Antoine Fuqua’s action film “Olympus Has Fallen” was released, in which the former bodyguard of the U.S. President rescued the head of state from North Korean terrorists who had seized the White House. Critics were not thrilled with this film, but it grossed $160 million on a $70 million budget. Therefore, Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart embarked on a new adventure – this time on the streets of London, emptied after a series of brazen terrorist attacks.
“London Has Fallen” is the English-language debut of Swedish director of Iranian origin Babak Najafi. His first film, “Sebbe,” was awarded the Swedish national “Golden Beetle” award (the equivalent of the “Oscar”) in the “Best Film” category in 2011.
From Thriller to Straight Action
Unlike the previous film, which, albeit unsuccessfully, still tried to be a thriller with unexpected plot twists, “London Has Fallen” is a straightforward action film, the script surprises of which end the moment it becomes clear what the terrorists’ plan is. In other words, as soon as Ben and Mike are left alone with the villains. After that, the heroes wander or drive around the city throughout the film, periodically staging fights either on the street, in the subway, or in a half-empty building. British and American officials helplessly watch what is happening on monitors. At the very end of the film, the formula changes slightly, but its essence remains the same – minimum intrigue, maximum corpses. If you remember the action films of the 1980s, you know what we are talking about.
Political Incorrectness and Patriotic Cliches
The film’s deliberate old-fashionedness led to Western critics tearing it apart for political incorrectness. Just think – white heroes exterminate an entire army of Muslims! True, no one shouts “Allahu Akbar!” in the film, and the villains are driven not by religiosity, but by the good old desire for revenge. The fanatics, on the other hand, turn out to be the main characters, who communicate almost exclusively with patriotic clichés in between shootouts. But this nuance does not appease Western liberal critics. On the contrary, they hate ultra-patriots who are also middle-aged white men.
A Tragicomical Action
However, these cultural wars are far from us. In Russia, “London Has Fallen” is seen not as a film with a political subtext, but as a silly but entertaining tragicomic action film, in which the absurdity of what is happening serves as the main source of humor. However, there are also just jokes in the spirit of the 1980s (“There are more than a hundred of them! – They will regret that there were so few of them!”). The film begins seriously, but as the events unfold, Butler’s character increasingly turns into a humorous Schwarzenegger character from “Commando.” Which is only a plus in such a movie.
Weaknesses of the Film
The real minuses of the film are not in its script, but in the fact that, for example, “London Has Fallen” does not have a full-fledged “final boss,” as Rick Yune’s character was in “Olympus Has Fallen.” In the new film, the commander of the terrorists, Barkawi’s eldest son, plays a similar plot role, but he does not come across as a “tough guy” at all. When Mike does not kill him with the first blow in the final battle, it is perceived not as a manifestation of the villain’s strength, but as an unexpected weakness of the hero, who previously easily dealt with terrorists of any caliber. So, instead of a tough fight in the spirit of the ending of “Commando,” the film ends with a hectic scuffle, by the end of which you respect Mike less than at the beginning of the film. Not good!
Also disappointing is the purely and unjustified masculinity of the film. The plot of the film would not have suffered at all if Ben and Mike had been accompanied on their journey by Charlotte Riley’s character – an acquaintance of the main character from British counterintelligence. After all, since the action takes place on British territory, an English guide would have been useful from all points of view, from practical to legal (not to mention an additional source of sex appeal). However, Jacqueline Marshall only briefly joins the main characters, after which she returns to her helplessly watching colleagues. She has a role in the plot, but this role is tiny and optional. It would have been much more logical to register her in the epicenter of events for a long time. True, in this case, the genre would prescribe her and Mike to have an affair, and the hero’s pregnant wife is waiting for him at home. But couldn’t a combat professional friendship be shown without romantic complications?
The creators of the film probably spent a significant part of the 60 million budget on spectacular explosions of London landmarks – terrorists destroy politicians along with architectural masterpieces. However, they did not have enough money for high-quality, convincing computer graphics, and this part of the film is less impressive than it could have been. Fortunately, this is not of great importance, since all these scenes are just a prologue to the main action. And in it, the pyrotechnics and stunts are real. But, in truth, banal – for all its recklessness, there is not a single truly memorable fight scene in the film. And this is the main problem of “London Has Fallen.”