‘London Has Fallen’ Review: Fast-Paced, Brutal and Extremely Exaggerated

Anthony Fuqua’s action film-London Has Fallen, a sequel to ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ is extremely chaotic, brutal, fast-paced and exceedingly exaggerated—-it falls short of the first which demonstrated to the world low budget movies can also ‘break’ the box office.
If you are not quivered by the indiscriminate slaying of world leaders, the plot that everyone and everything would be put in a basket to avert the assassination of the United States president- Benjamin Asher (played by Aaron Eckhart) from many countries, perhaps, to their own disadvantage tickles the mind.
In what comes off as a ‘Final Destination’ style of killing, terrorists disguised as police officers succeed in whacking several world leaders in London, attending the funeral of the British Prime Minister.
There’s a background to the bedlam; the film opens in remote Pakistan, where a United States wanted terrorist and arms dealer’s humongous mansion is blown into ashes from the sky during the wedding of his daughter.
Two years after the ‘family annihilation’, world leaders converge in London for a funeral—and the film seems to suggest this was part of a revenge scheme, well executed by those seeking to make a global death counting statement, yet, with the US president as their ultimate casualty.
Despite earlier slight opposition by Secret Service director-Lynne Jacobs (played by Angela Bassett) that the US president should not attend because of the short timing and the absence of many weeks of proper security detailing, President Benjamin Asher decided to attend the funeral for solidarity and ally purposes.
It’s Britain we are talking about, and he had to attend.
Soon after the US president arrived in London, the film plunges into deranged horror as terrorists began to gun down not just world leaders but civilians in the streets of London—and blowing up most of the revered London landmarks.

London was on a lock-down, the attacks seemed chaotic but somewhat well coordinated by the terrorists. MI6, MI5, SAS and the Met Police had been infiltrated, and with everyone seemingly compromised, the fate of the United States’ president is solely left into the hands of his venison-bodied protection special agent-Mike Banning (played by Gerard Butler).
The rapid response by the few trusted intelligent and security officers working around the clock to safeguard the emblem of the White House from ‘falling’ was equally confusing; who’s what and who’s protecting or killing faintly develop to the viewer and even to the Vice-President, Morgan Freeman, who was coordinating an escape from the Situation Room at the ‘White House’ for the under-attacked US president.
‘London Has Fallen’ holds no distinctive storyline from its predecessor, but this time, the effects are cheaply done and an attempt to over pack it with strikingly-unending brutality and action drives the film to the exaggerated mark.
It’s the villain- Mike Banning, kicking, blowing-up and shooting everything in his way to take the US president to safety that serve as the thrill—with a large proportion of the action taking place at night which straightforwardly puts even the shooting effects under tick.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AsOdX7NcJs
Of course Mike Banning is on top of his shape and form—he’s the kicker of asses. But until a dim support came in, he was reasonably doing too much and even continued to do so much in a fast-pace, which takes off reality from the screen.
There were attempts to inject a bit of subtle humor; for instance, the Italian Prime Minister who attended the funeral would pass for Silvio Berlusconi, when it comes to his women antics.
The film is no where as good as ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ but at least, we get to see Aaron Eckhart playing a more pivotal role this time—at some point, Mr. President even joins the ‘interminable killings’.
Critics’ Ratings;
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