London Has Fallen

Cannon Films presents The President's Man... I mean, Delta Force... no, not that either... London Has Fallen! A film in which Gerard Butler interrogates a hostage by stabbing him with a quarter-yard knife until he learns what he needs. In which the terrorists anticipate the Italian Prime Minister treating himself to a thirty-years-younger model atop Westminster, so they blow up the entire tower of the building just in case. A film where twenty super-equipped SAS soldiers tell a battered Butler running around in his shirt "Lead the way!". A work where most of the budget went on the quantity of special effects, not their quality. Where the protagonist kills 800 people with a gun and a knife and returns to his wife in dutiful labor. A film where Merkel breaks strict security measures to accept a flower from a snotty little girl, whereupon she is shot to pieces. In short, cathartic cinematic idiocy in the vein of the best of the 90s, after which I'll look back fondly on Avengers 35 from my old age. (28/07/2016)

Butler roolzz. London Has Fallen is a weaker little brother to a good part one. A conflict with Korea is lacking (both in reality and in the movie) and the terrorist villain isn’t demonic enough. Occasional serious moments rather subdue the bloody fun when Butler stabs his adversaries. Also the contrast between future dad and killer worse than the terrorists themselves is a little out of place here. But it’s fun. Fun for its naivety. The screenplay copies some B-movie hits from the nineties and gives them a new suit, but copies it too hastily, without caring whether it makes sense or not. But I would really welcome the next part with a better screenwriting team. I was smiling from ear to ear while watching. (20/04/2016)

Solid sequel. London Has Fallen has a very dynamic and intense pace, where you breathe in at the beginning and out at the end. The attack on London itself is very stylish and destructive, and I was pleasantly surprised that anyone from a burger vendor to an ambulance driver can be a terrorist. At times I was bothered by the CGI in some of the explosions, but it's all saved by the uncompromising Gerard Butler, who is in such form that he takes out an entire Delta Force unit single-handedly and knifes the terrorists in a stealthy “Splinter Cell”-like rendition, all of which I could only marvel at, with clear camerawork, a perfect soundtrack and almost no editing. At times, you'll be delighted by the smile-inducing quips from Butler's mouth or the emotional scenes packed with tension that will bring a tear to your eye. As far as American patriotism is concerned, it is of course in great excess here and I am probably one of the few who doesn't mind, on the contrary!! The perfect entertaining Yummy. 80%. (09/04/2016)

The previous film was at least professionally shot, but its London sequel is missing decent action scenes and special effects that would look better than average video games. I won't mention the characters and actors purely out of decency, and it's terribly evident that London's streets are just backdrops that originated in the studio somewhere. It is, in short, immensely boring. And stupid. (21/11/2018)

This film has ad absurdum motifs from the past, whose dubious ideological underpinnings I wouldn't worry about provided they weren't hiding behind interchangeable action that we’ve seen a thousand times before. The film begs to be part of the A-movie class through its cast but limps on both feet due to the abilities of the production team. (20/05/2016)