There's absolutely no mistaking the fact that White House Down was too expensive. $150 million is a lot of money to spend on a movie that should, and could have come in a lot cheaper, considering how self-consciously genre it was (perhaps it's wrong to assume that means films should be cheaper, but that's the way it feels) and the film was hamstrung with a big hefty price tag stigma around its neck. Yes, Roland Emmerich isn't exactly the best film-maker currently plying his trade, but his White House/Die Hard amalgam was the better of the pair of near identical actioners released this year, and with consummate (and entirely unexpected) ease, the director who gets way too much criticism made not only a great action movie, but also one that bore the hallmarks of non-genre movie greatness. Okay, so greatness is perhaps an over-extension, but White House Down in no way deserved to be the box office "failure" it will now forever be called. The characters were great, thanks in part to great lead acting performances from Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx, and even more thanks to the chemistry they built together. It is far more modern feeling (and dare it be said, is smarter) than Olympus Has Fallen, and it has actual dialogue, instead of a cavalcade of angry t-shirt slogans, and while some will inevitably call it a pay-check movie, that is unfair and too reductive by far. Why You Didn't See It Perhaps you were lured in by the grimmer ultra-violence of the other White House-based action movie - Olympus Has Fallen - or perhaps you were just plain confused that two movies with almost identical premises were released within months of each other - either way, it seems very few people went to see the superior of the two. Which other 2013 films do you think deserved more attention? Share your picks below in the comments thread below.
