This week, I watched the 2013 film Olympus Has Fallen, described somewhat aptly by one critic as “a lumpy version of Die Hard but with Gerard Butler instead of Bruce Willis.” In my opinion, it was a bit disappointing, even rating it on the exclusive criteria of a stock action movie. For one, the plot was questionably constructed—for instance, the American government’s failure to notice a North Korean military aircraft until it was within Washington D.C.’s airspace is hardly realistic, and exceeded my personal capacity for willing suspension of disbelief. While I’m told frequently that action movies aren’t meant to have logically convincing foundations, I still think that incoherent plotlines are distracting. More problematic was the sore lack of character development: The protagonist resembles a ruthless killing machine driven by vaguely nationalistic sentiments, with few dimensions of personality (and an uncompromising adherence to heteronormative action hero cliches).
On “Olympus Has Fallen”
On “Olympus Has Fallen”
On “Olympus Has Fallen”
This week, I watched the 2013 film Olympus Has Fallen, described somewhat aptly by one critic as “a lumpy version of Die Hard but with Gerard Butler instead of Bruce Willis.” In my opinion, it was a bit disappointing, even rating it on the exclusive criteria of a stock action movie. For one, the plot was questionably constructed—for instance, the American government’s failure to notice a North Korean military aircraft until it was within Washington D.C.’s airspace is hardly realistic, and exceeded my personal capacity for willing suspension of disbelief. While I’m told frequently that action movies aren’t meant to have logically convincing foundations, I still think that incoherent plotlines are distracting. More problematic was the sore lack of character development: The protagonist resembles a ruthless killing machine driven by vaguely nationalistic sentiments, with few dimensions of personality (and an uncompromising adherence to heteronormative action hero cliches).