“Olympus Has Fallen” Movie Review

April 6, 2013

(Blood, Bullets, Bravery)

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Caveat: I read Thrillers and I write book reviews on those Thrillers. This movie is dead on in my genre….a thrilling thriller that looks an awful lot like Vince Flynn’s “Transfer of Power” book. But it is not…according to Vince himself. FYI…I read “Transfer of Power” before I started my book review blog, soooo TracyReaderDad needs to re-read it. 🙂

The number one and number two rules of being a Secret Service agent are: 1. The President comes first, and 2. You do not deal with terrorists.

Mike Banning (awesomely played by Gerard Butler) saved the President over the First Lady. For that he was banished from the Presidential detail. Hogwash….see rule #1 above.

But, that bit of misinformation aside, Butler is now working a desk job at the Treasury Department when the White House (and much of Washington DC) are attacked by a U.S. military AC-130 gunship (how the fuck did the North Koreans get that?) and on the ground terrorists.

Luckily, Banning rushes to the White House and survives while the President and several critical cabinet members are whisked to a safe room along with the Korean delegation including an American civilian body guard (sorry, but, I do not think that would happen in real life either….). Bad move…

The Korean delegation kills most of the unimportant hostages and methodically threatens to kill the others after getting crucial nuclear codes. The acting President, the wonderful Morgan Freeman, breaks rule #2….and deals with the terrorists. Pulling the 7th fleet away from Korea because some terrorist has the President locked up in the basement….gimme a break.

Luckily, Banning is in the White House and much like Bruce Willis in “Die Hard”…he takes matters into his own hands.

Even with the inconsistencies that this anal follower of the Thriller genre is nit picking, “Olympus Has Fallen” is an awesome adventure. I loved it! Except for the very beginning, the movie was non-stop, edge of your seat, action.

Gerard Butler is terrific. He could easily play the much tougher assassin …Mitch Rapp. Morgan Freeman went from playing a convicted killer in my favorite movie ever, to God, to head of R&D, to an over-his-head acting President. He is also terrific.

Not for kids. F-words, blood and gore abound, with some very funny moments to relieve the tension.

Must see.

Go to IMDb for more information. We watched this at the Tracy, CA CineMark where our poster is STILL UP! 🙂