London Has Fallen, Review: The Butler did it

If he can save the White House, can London be far behind? To be accurate, it never really fell. Yes, London Bridge was blown up. A few hundred armed terrorists, with a few dozen combat vehicles, had gained access to the city’s communications network, donned local police uniforms, blown-up most of the historical monuments and deployed surface to air missiles locked at the escaping US President’s helicopter, and all was well, until Mike Banning decided enough was enough. Mike Banning, the President’s indispensable body-guard, is the name of the character played by producer-hero Gerard Butler, a role he reprises after the hit outing, Olympus Has Fallen. It doesn’t matter what or who has fallen. Butler hasn’t.

In London, the British Prime Minister has died under mysterious circumstances, and his funeral is a must-attend event for dozens of heads of state of the Western world, with Japan not to be left out. What starts out as the most protected event on Earth turns into a deadly plot to kill the world's most powerful assembly of leaders, and unleash a terrifying vision of the future. Several political supremos are assassinated by a group of Middle-East based arms dealers, who have infiltrated local security personnel, in retaliation for the death of their chief’s daughter in a drone strike meant to terminate the men, who survive.

The American President manages to escape from the London attacks, though he is unable to leave the city and fly back home. The only hope of stopping the mass destruction rests on the shoulders of the U.S. President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart), his formidable US Secret Service lead agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), who is protecting him, Vice President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman), who takes over the command centre in Washington, and British MI6 agent Jacquelin Marshall (Charlotte Riley), who, rightly, trusts no one.

Olympus Has Fallen had North Korean villains. This time, they are Middle Eastern/Pakistani. London Has Fallen is written by the same team that wrote Olympus, Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, with additional inputs from two prodigies close to Butler. Rothenberger (an active supporter of Disabled American Veterans) and Benedikt, born in Reykjavík, Iceland, are a married couple. They first met in a screen-writing class in Philadelphia about fourteen years ago. Both quit their corporate jobs and embarked on a writing career. It took them a long time (over 20 ready scripts) before Olympus Has Fallen was bought. That was followed by Expendables 3.

Some years ago, Warner offered Chad St. John the job of writing a revenge movie that didn’t have any dialogue in it. St. John was up to the challenge, and he came-up with an impressive screenplay that had less than a dozen lines of spoken words, in just over 70 pages. It’s been on the ‘Black List’ of scripts since 2009. After going through an ever-changing list of leading men, Gerard Butler was the choice and production began. Soon afterwards, legal issues surfaced, and the project was shelved. St. John, in the meanwhile, had impressed St. Butler!

Christian Gudegast was set to direct a film called Den of Thieves, from his own script, co-written with Paul Scheuring, in which a legendary bank heist crew decides to rob the Federal Reserve in Los Angeles, right under the nose of a rogue sheriff’s deputy. Gerard Butler and Sam Worthington were to star. Sadly, 16 years after the basic plot was penned, the film has yet to see completion. So, why not take him on aboard for London Has Fallen, felt Butler. Between them, they manage a tight beginning, a thrilling premise and some lighter moments—the scene of the Italian Prime Minister and his lady companion (wife?) for one. They also get into the mushy wife and kid, and duty v/s family, routine, that fails to strike a chord.

“Vengeance must always be profound and absolute” pontificates the arch-villain, with cold menace. In the footsteps of Bond villains, to be sure, but Barkawi fails to strike terror with his looks and manner. Some witty dialogue peppers the first few scenes, including the reference to the Presidential race, when the Pres is jogging! How in heavens could the bad guys penetrate everything and everywhere needs to be explained. One traitor, however high in the hierarchy, is not enough to unsettle a whole country. Could be a case of scissors pruning the length to remain manageable (it is 1 hour 39 min long), but that is no excuse for the jump cut that shows the President and his Shield Friday reaching the besieged city centre on foot, after their helicopter is shot down outside the city. Clever turning points include the electric power supply trick towards the end.

Is it a mere co-incidence or is there more to it? The director is a man named Babak Najafi Karami (Sebbe, Easy Money II: The City of Misguided), an Iranian Swede, who does not use the last name (born in Karami, Iran, in 1975; the family moved to Sweden when he was 11)! Besides North Korea and Pakistan/Afghanistan/Iraq, America has perceived Iran as a rogue state too. Najafi’s favourite directors are Fatih Akin and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Obviously, he has a lot still to learn from both. Action and VFX are just above par, with the helicopter scenes standing out.

London is well-captured, and promoted, except for the mayhem on display, reducing landmarks to shambles. Half-an-hour into the film, you lose track of who’s who in the supporting cast, but for the Vice-President (how can you lose track of Morgan Freeman?). Gerard Butler is producer, star and one-man army. He is also indestructible. Najafi fails to rein-in this vanity trip. Where does he score, in comparison to Antoine Fuqua’s helming of Olympus? Not very high. And with several main characters and two original writers carried over, he cannot escape the propensity of sequel audiences to indulge in the practice of comparing.

Gerard Butler (Tomorrow Never Dies, Phantom of the Opera, A Law-Abiding Citizen, 300), scowls, howls, dominates, intimidates, stares, glares and flares. Tall and athletically built, he has a square jaw and highly animated mouth, which still delivers dialogue with a Scottish drawl. Aaron Eckhart (American-British; The Dark Knight, The Rum Diary, Olympus Has Fallen) is a much more gifted actor, in spite of his long face and statuesque frame. He infuses some life in a stock character, taking off from Olympus. Morgan Freeman was the Speaker of the House in Olympus, and has been promoted in the sequel. As always, he exudes quiet dignity as a senior position bearer, something he has done at least a dozen times before. There is smart ploy to add a touch of suspense to his allegiance.

Israeli actor Alon Aboutboul (Rambo III, Body of Lies, The Dark Night Rises) is cast as Aamir Barkawi, the gun-runner bent on vengeance. His features go well with the region the baddie operates from. There is a quiet cold-bloodedness about him, but nothing that would make you tremble. Mrs. Leah Banning is Radha (Rani Amber Indigo Ananda) Mitchell, who grew up in Melbourne, the daughter of a model-turned-fashion-designer mother and film-maker father, who divorced when she was young. Film outings include Melinda and Melinda, Finding Neverland and Phone Booth. It’s a sympathetic role, and you almost want Butler to give up his job for wife and son. And he almost does. England-born Indian Shivani Ghai (Bride and Prejudice, Everywhere and Nowhere, The Bounty Hunter) features as part of the Mansoor family, with little screen time.

Also in the cast are Waleed Zuaiter as Kamran Barkawi (the son), Adel Bencherif as Raza Mansoor (part of the revenge plot executors), Mehdi Dehbi (Sultan Mansoor, brother), Angela Bassett as the Director of the United States Secret Service (nice little cameo), Melissa Leo as Ruth McMillan, the United States Secretary of Defense and Charlotte Riley as Jacquelin Marshall (reasonable footage, but little to emote).

Hear Ye, Hear Ye…Members of the American Secret Services, don’t even think of quitting. Other qualifying Americans, do think of enlisting. Filmgoers round the world, don’t write off the franchise yet.  For we still have San Francisco, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Tokyo, Ottawa…

Rating: **1/2

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMbyPhQo75A