davyd-02237
Theres a great cast in here for starters, with a father and daughter actually being the "hero" of the piece. The "villains" are full of "villainy" and quite believable, with a hint of overacting in some quarters. Maggie Ghyanhall is the only one who really doesn't come out of this too well... a department head who only wants to "talk to people"....sometimes that attitude doesn't work and certainly in this situation with the White House under attack from the "enemy within" is a great premise for an end to end all action movie. catch this if you can, a very entertaining 2 hours (approx.). shame about the bad language otherwise I would have scored higher
The Movie Diorama
You get yourself a hot young lead actor, a musician turned Oscar winner, a director who essentially ejaculates shoddy visual effects that reek of mediocrity and top it off with a story that feels reminiscent to 'Die Hard'...however feels more like 'Die Soft'. Put them all together and you get White House Down, a film so unnecessary and unfortunate with the timing of its release (the same year as 'Olympus Has Fallen') that you start to question its existence. The White House is under attack, the president and government officials are held hostage as terrorists cause havoc and seek demands. John McClane was busy in Moscow, so they got Channing Tatum instead...honestly, I've already forgotten his character's name. Right, so here's the problem. There are unrealistic films that are fun, and then there are fun films that are unrealistic. This falls into the former category. Why? Well alright, here we go! One scene in particular: the president and a "secret service agent" are driving around the front lawn in an armoured limousine being chased down by three SUVs with machine guns, rocket launchers and assault rifles. The president, and I kid you not, gets a rocket launcher as he peers out of the passenger window and fires it. Seriously? Could you imagine Trump doing that? Sweet lord his hair would be all over the place. To conclude, this film is a visual effects mess weighed down by a "comedic" screenplay that hosts an uninspired plot and derivative action. Foxx and Tatum have good chemistry sure, and Clarke still remains decent (although always chooses poor films). And yes, you could say some parts are enjoyable. But Emmerich is so stuck in the past, that the film immediately feels outdated. It's not 1996 anymore, come on! His excessive patriotism is just too much for me. Don't even get me started on the comedic relief that constantly missed, much like the mercenaries who can't fire their weapons for toffee! Just go watch 'Olympus Has Fallen' instead, as this White House is staying down.
mark73
Don't believe the reviews that say this isn't as good as Olympus has Fallen. It is. But they are both bloody awful. Do yourself a favour and just watch Die Hard again instead of either of these terrible clones.
DBLurker
I'll be honest. I kinda didn't watch the movie for this long because I thought I had already seen it.Turns out, it was Olympus Has Fallen, the movie released in the same year with same premise. It says a lot about Hollywood, A LOT.The plot is same, a white guy saves the president of the United States and thus, saves the world (cause Mericah! is the world). Filled with average performances and average action scenes, there isn't anything new here. Though I DO think the action and CGI in this movie is slightly better than Olympus (bigger budget is my guess).Meh! Going to give it same rating as Olympus.
AD
