Miffed!
SPOILERS:
London has fallen, and does anybody seem to care? How would they? Streets are running empty! You wonder out loud, “Where is everybody?” Oh, Wait! This could be a different dimension altogether! But is it a sci-fi movie? No! So that gets ruled out too! The movie is so bad that it will make you remember the already forgotten previous installment, and make you go, “I think I liked it more when Olympus fell!”
In a world, where cities keep falling and directors try to cash in their checks through big names like Butler, Freeman and Eckhart, by showing meagre action without a good plot or direction to keep the pieces together, you are compelled to wonder what the action-world is degrading into.
In a planet which already reeks of terror, Babak Najafi believes you haven’t had enough, and tries to feed you a mouthful of terror-jargon with ample gun shots, bombs and some third-grade CGI. There is no subtlety in his direction, and you almost see everything coming. What is worse is the way he decides to snap off a frame, and then spearhead into another one, without a proper closure. In his head, he thinks he is being cool, but really Babak, Not Cool! Not Cool!
What was cheesy was the fact that every character in the movie gets a label. Najafi thought we were really that interested to notice who’s who. There is one juncture where all presidents get exterminated within seconds, which was laughable rather than being poignant. So, if your country’s president was insinuated there, you would go “Damn!” and might walk off the theater.
The screenplay has nothing to offer. It is further exacerbated to pulp just as victims of Gerard-fury were by the flick’s shoddy direction. Radha Mitchell just makes matters worse by running with a baby in her belly like she is on a football field. Gerard Butler stares at his screen with a scrappy resignation letter without emphasizing enough focusing on the words honor and privileged (wow! Writers!) just to tell you that he is thinking about it. Subtle, eh! Aaron goes live and suddenly he decides to be a man and show some real ballsy presidency. In his head he must be like, “Look at me, I am your ideal tough!” Shivani Ghai shouts at Patrick Kennedy to stay on the ground and then shoots him ensuring her order is heard. Well played! Oooh-Oooh before I forget, there was this guy who seemed constantly worried; he had a weird eyebrow that pointed up, no matter what. So even if he was happy he looked worried.
Sometimes these action flicks make me wonder if adroit Presidents watch them too and say, “Hey! That’s me. I am holding a gun, and going Bam! Bam! And Kaboom!” At least Family Guy’s Mayor Adam West would say that.
If we look at the bright side, which we generally do, the final action bits are pretty dope, when Gerard goes full Rambo on the terrorists. It almost seems like a good game you are playing, that skims the surface of Splinter Cell or Hitman for that to matter. The camera goes with a continuous shot, and Babak seems to have been waiting the whole movie just to shoot that. It was good while it lasted. Then the clouds of pointlessness walk in again.
London Has Fallen
Pros
- Action at one juncture is good
- A continuous shot reminds you of your favorite game
Cons
- A poorly directed action flick
- Shoddy screenplay
- So many loopholes
- Pointless charade
- One of the worst action sequels
