Stars Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Jackie Earle Haley, Charlotte Riley, Alon Aboutboul with Angela Bassett, Colin Salmon, Melissa Leo and Radha Mitchell Directed by Babak Najafi Well, that’s a bit of a blast. One might feel this is how the last Die Hard movie should have been. At least, in concept. When the Prime Minister of Britain passes away, US President Asher (Aaron Eckhart) makes the trip across the pond for the funeral only to find himself under siege in London with trusty bodyguard Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) on hand to provide protection. That’s about it in a nutshell, and the movie is exactly what you would expect as a sequel to Olympus Has Fallen (2013). The terrorists in the story take years in planning and putting their people in position… and in the likes of James Bond or the Die Hard movies, it takes one overly determined guy to be the monkey wrench in their plans. It’s the stuff of action entertainment. For some, this is the kind of action film where you simply check your brains at the door and enjoy the ride. There are some impressive action set-pieces with several scenes of very recognisable stars (among them, Morgan Freeman, Jackie Earle Haley, Colin Salmon, Melissa Leo) sitting or standing around discussing what the heck happened and what are they going to do about it. To be fair, there is one very solid and impressive action set-piece. Banning, backed by some soldiers, have to make their way down a street to the building where the terrorists are holed-up, and in a single tracking shot, they run a gauntlet standing in their way fighting for every inch of ground to be covered. Aside from that, the movie takes itself a little too seriously to be a fun piece of entertainment, but it is likely to satisfy an action junkie’s craving. The acting feels like the stars are going through the paces given the scenario they’re in. The direction tries some interesting tricks, like the aforementioned single take action beat, but some of the CG effects shine through in glaring measures. In all that, the movie still does what it sets out to do. There just isn’t much else you can expect from it. Rating: **/5
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