Delayed Reaction: Angel Has Fallen

Premise: The president is under attack again, but this time our hero is being framed for the attack.

 

(Club 50) I think my relationship with this franchise is best summed up by the fact that I have no idea if I've seen the second movie, London Has Fallen. I didn't love Olympus Has Fallen that much. London was the 51st highest grossing movie of 2016, so it falls outside of my Club 50 requirement. It is the kind of easy movie I'd put on though while I'm working on something else. Reading the plot on Wikipedia is doing nothing for me, but I have vague images of London in my head. Perhaps those were from a trailer. I'm refusing to check my big list for the answer on principal.

 

Anyway, this is the third movie in the franchise and it's a bit of a turn. Instead of protecting someone from the inside of an attack, Gerard Butler is being framed. So, it's The Fugitive if Dr. Richard Kimble was special ops. For what it is, I have few complaints. This is an easily adaptable franchise. It's on an affordable budget level for the studio. This is the right size for a Gerard Butler movie. He's not an A-list star, but he is a capable leading man for a macho action movie. Literally every person in this feels right for this kind of movie. Morgan Freeman says yes to everything. Same with Nick Nolte. Jada Pinkett Smith and Lance Reddick are at that level where they can either being TV stars or supporting characters in movies. And Piper Perabo is at that really awkward stage for actresses. She's a known quantity but not getting roles made for her. She's in her 40s but always seems younger. If you put her with people her age, she looks younger than then, but if you put her with people 10 years younger than her, she sticks out. I realize what I'm describing is the exact problem with how Hollywood sees actresses, so I guess I'm part of the problem. What I'm really trying to say is this. When I saw that Butler was married to Perabo in the movie, I rolled my eyes at another aging action star getting a way-too-young wife. Then I looked it up. They're only 7 years apart. She just looks like she's be too young for him.

 

My biggest complaint about the movie is that I wish the idea of an exploding drone strike could've been saved for an ever better movie. That's a cool idea. And now, if I see it in a Chris Nolan movie, I'll think "someone must've watched Angel Has Fallen".

 

Angel Has Fallen, like the previous installments, is a fun second tier action movie. It's not filling a blockbuster-sized hole. It's no Michael Bay or Rolland Emmerich spectacle. It's right below those, and sometimes, I just want to watch a movie where shit blows up.

 

Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend