Olympus Has Fallen
2013 · Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Original language: English
- action
- thriller
The story
When the White House (Secret Service Code: "Olympus") is captured by a terrorist mastermind and the President is kidnapped, disgraced former Presidential guard Mike Banning finds himself trapped within the building. As the national security team scrambles to respond, they are forced to rely on Banning's inside knowledge to help retake the White House, save the President and avert an even bigger disaster.
What it’s like
Dark, glossy, hard-edged digital action, with the White House rendered as a labyrinth of shadowed corridors, flickering monitors and blown-out explosions in the night. Director Antoine Fuqua favours kinetic handheld movement and tight, fast cutting during firefights, with the palette tilted toward cold blues, steel greys and orange fire. The score is a driving, percussive synth-and-orchestral pulse that rarely lets up, so the mood is taut and anxious rather than contemplative. Violence is frequent, loud and bloody: gunfights, stabbings, bodies dropped and crushed, plus a few graphic torture and execution moments, with gore that is fairly explicit though not sustained. There is some coarse profanity and grim peril throughout. The pacing is relentless, built around set pieces and countdown urgency, and the emotional register is patriotic and adrenaline-heavy, following a battered ex-guard who must prove himself again. It suits a late night of escapist, loud spectacle, and fans of high-stakes siege thrillers and muscular ensemble action, but it is far from gentle, and anyone wanting calm or low-intensity viewing should look elsewhere.
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