Movie Review - "Olympus Has Fallen" 03/22/2013

Here's a fairly new movie to review, since I just watched it yesterday.  Why not review it if I've recently seen it?

"Olympus Has Fallen", released March 22, 2013.

Trailer:

Criteria:

0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.

1/5 – Barely worth any time.

2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.

3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.

Plotline:

Let's make this simple and say that the plotline is that the countries of North Korea and South Korea are at war and the President of the USA wants to help gain peace in the area.  While he is meeting with the South Korea Minister, terrorists attack and kidnap the President in the safety bunker underneath the White House.  Now, the question is how to get the President out of there alive?  And can they keep the terrorists from getting all the codes to Cerberus, the self-contained computer system that can trigger or un-trigger nuclear warheads, which would let the USA be vulnerable to nuclear attack or send off USA nuclear attacks?  [No, the trailer says nothing about Cerberus because that's just "fluff".  But it is kinda part of the main part of the storyline.]

Mike Banning (played by Gerard Butler) was the head of Secret Services to take care of the President but when he was unable to save the First Lady [on a bad December night with icy road conditions and a car tilting off a bridge], he loses his job as the head of the Secret Services.  So now he is pushing paperwork in the Department of Treasury.  But when the terrorists attack, he grabs his gun and runs towards the White House.  Lots of shooting, lots of fighting, and Banning ends up being the last guy standing upright for the USA Secret Services against the terrorists inside the White House.  "Olympus has fallen" says one of the SS guys before he dies and the Speaker of the House (played by Morgan Freeman) becomes Acting President while they try to figure out if the President is still alive.

Summary SPOILERS: Banning finds and rescues the President's son Conner and goes to take out the terrorists, whom we find out had someone in the SS and who will go to all extremes to get the codes for Cerberus.  Banning saves the President, the Vice President is killed by terrorists, and all terrorists are killed (one way or another) by Banning.  Banning gets his job back as head of the SS to protect the President.

Also on streaming through Netflix.

Rate:

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.

4.5 - Awestriking and wonderful.  I might watch it again, but not one of those "must buy" movies.  I loved Butler's acting in this movie, but he's always awesome.  :-)  [But not much to talk about since this is in the category of "Die Hard" with a younger actor.]