Yes, this is basically Die Hard In The White House and yes, despite the presence of Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, its still little more than a $150 million Steven Seagal movie, but its considerably less mawkish than director Roland Emmerichs earlier 2012, and compared to Olympus Has Fallen, which told the same story only with more clichés and Gerard Butler, it looks fantastic. Hissable villain James Woods has taken over 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for.oh, some reason. Look, you dont watch this kind of film for its intricate plotting, nuanced characters and Shakespearean dialogue but to see stuff blow up, which it often does. A car smashes through the wall of the Oval Office, a villain who (intentionally?) looks like the bad guy in Commando turns out to be an explosions-loving psycho (whatre the odds?) and just like President Harrison Ford in Air Force One, Foxx isnt afraid to afraid to take on his enemies with both fists. Oh, and theres a car chase on the White House with helicopter gunships and rocket launchers and whatnot. Thats fun, too.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
