Sotto assedio - White House Down

Interestingly, in a space of just three months, 2013 saw the release of two films with the same premise: 'White House Down', and 'Olympus has Fallen'. Which one did you enjoy more?

I enjoyed both, for different reasons. 'Olympus has Fallen' was a more serious film, but it also had a much higher body count making it slightly more unrealistic. While dealing with a serious matter, 'White House Down' is unfortunately laden with annoying, unfunny humor which completely ruined any potential suspense.

My biggest issue with 'White House Down' was casting Jamie Foxx as President Sawyer. Foxx is so bad and unconvincing as the President, it quite frankly is the worst portrayal of a President I have ever seen. The script is also to blame, as the character doesn't act or reason the way a President would, with dialogue not suited for a high profile individual such as a President. He sounded immature and incompetent, at best.

There's plenty of action and firepower. The film is a bit cheesy at times, and a bit sentimental at times. Fortunately, it manages to remain interesting and always has some kind of hook to keep the viewer glued to the screen. The action sequences are very well done, fast-paced and thrilling. So, despite some issues, 'White House Down' is still an exciting movie.

Not since President Harrison Ford battled terrorists aboard "Air Force One" has a U.S. movie president faced the peril that challenges President Jamie Foxx in "White House Down." An unidentified group detonates a bomb in the U.S. Capitol Building, then takes hostages in the White House and shoots up the historic mansion, destroying priceless artifacts and paintings to the chagrin of a tour guide. Audiences know what they want from a Roland Emmerich movie, and "White House Down" delivers the goods; rapid cutting, action, explosions, gun battles, cheering onlookers, wise-ass heroes and bad-ass villains.

Clichés abound; from a troubled father-daughter relationship to an expository job interview that details the hero's past and a White House tour that fills in the history of the presidential mansion, the plot inches forward until the explosions literally begin. However, logic and plausibility also evaporate as the pace accelerates. While metal detectors screen visitors, the terrorists have an arsenal of automatic weapons already in the White House. While bullets fly and White House staff and visitors cower and flee, a young girl records everything on video for her on-line blog. Preposterous would come to mind, if the action allowed viewers to pause and think for a moment.

The cast of professionals is capable for this type of film. Headed by Channing Tatum, who sports a fetching sleeveless tunic to highlight his biceps, is the negligent father, caught in the dire White House situation with his blogger daughter. Jamie Foxx is fine as the President, while Maggie Gyllenhaal and Richard Jenkins both try to rise above the trite material, which was written by James Vanderbilt. Always fun to watch, James Woods manages to chew on the government-issue scenery in a showy role. The current resident of the White House, who claims ignorance of the 25th Amendment, should catch this film as that amendment is cited several times.

Audiences for a Roland Emmerich movie know what they want, and "White House Down" will deliver the goods for them. However, after two hours plus of mindless action, plot holes big enough to swallow a tank or a helicopter, and casual dialog between elected officials that propels the world towards Armageddon, some viewers may long for a slower paced film with a literate script and a plot based on logic. But then again, some may find Channing and his muscles more satisfying than either literacy or logic.

14 September 2013. White House Down starts with a lofty humanistic developing story that has substantive drama, but unlike its contemporary cousin Olympus Has Fallen (2013) becomes more a derivative of John McTiernan's action thriller Die Hard (1988). The result is an uneasy attempt at light humor along with a more darker plot that literally destroys a national American symbol. The plot elements in this deliberately twisting action thriller sometimes fails logic and later descends into a more chaotic and at times manipulative story.

Even with a rather ingenious double, double cross there is the over simplified demise of one of the more colorful villain, action scenes that seem to become more cluttered confusion and literally driving around in strange circles that defies believability. Even with the sincere and poignant if not manipulative scene with the daughter towards the climax of the movie, there are just too many moments where escape plans are abruptly and conveniently and contortedly altered.

While the beginning of the movie offered a polished and genuinely felt corridors of high power well folded as a solid backdrop to the humanity of the developing characters and an interesting liberal conspiracy theory embraced by the President himself, the tone of the movie becomes uneasy. Unlike Olympus Has Fallen which takes itself more thoughtfully seriously both the take over of the White House, the rebellious counter measures, and the consistent appealing emotive tone, White House Down just can't bring the same level of dry humor and entertainment as Die Hard.

I wasn't that eager to watch this movie, because I had seen some clips on TV shows reviewing it, and read reviews in newspapers...and none of them were very positive.

But on a rainy Sunday night, nothing else to do...i thought to myself...why not !? Have an open mind and go and see it.

And i must say I was pleasantly surprised !!! YES every normal thinking adult must know that the things you see in this movie are outrageous and simply couldn't ever happen that way. But so is most of what happens in any Bond movie ! So just forget about that part of it all...and decide if the movie is entertaining, and i thought it was !

Channing Tatum, James Woods, Maggie Gyllenhaal and little Joey King did really good work ! The only negative for me in this movie was Jamie Foxx, and I don't even know what it was that bothered me about him in this movie, but I just didn't think he was the best choice for that part !

A bunch of terrorists attack and (way too easily) occupy the White House. Cale (Channing Tatum) is there with his 11 year old daughter Emily (Joey King). Through circumstances Cale saves President Sawyer (Jamie Foxx) from being killed and they try to figure a way to beat the terrorists and save the White House.

This starts out badly. The first half hour deals with character development. Nothing wrong with that--but it's so DULL! Then the action starts up and it picks up. There's plenty of violence--LOTS of shootings but no blood (hence the PG-13 rating). Still it isn't that good. The action is strong and violent but not enough to carry the movie. Also it's far too long and gets stupider as it goes along. Seriously--by the end I was getting insulted as how moronic the film was getting. Also Emily (an 11 year old) is slapped around, threatened and (more than once) has a gun held to her head! That's going too far. Even worse is Tatum's acting. He was blank-faced throughout. On the plus side the special effects were great, Foxx was good as the president, and Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Woods were great in supporting roles. So it was loud and violent but too long and too stupid.