White House Down

                Last March, we took a look at the movie about the White House take over flick, starring Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart, “Olympus Has Fallen.” Now we take a look at the OTHER White House take over flick, this time from Roland Emmerich, “White House Down,” starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx.

                The film tells of John Cale, a D.C. police officer who takes her daughter to the White House for a tour, but to also apply for Secret Service. However, things take for the worse, when an inside attack happens, planned out by Martin Walker, Head of the Presidential Detail, in means of revenge and peace. Now it’s up to Cale to get President Sawyer to safety, and save his daughter before she and everyone else are killed and before Walker starts World War III. Much like other clones of “Die Hard,” as well as fun bad films like “Commando,” this film is very self-aware of its badness and has much fun with it in almost every second it can. It’s the first FUN Roland Emmerich movie we’ve had since “Independence Day,” and that’s saying something.

                Channing Tatum as John Cale does a good job for the role of that John McClane-esque hero figure, and has a captive charm to him that really does suit this kind of movie. I’m glad to see that he’s been building himself more as an actor in the past two years, showing that he has talent and he’s finally putting it to best use. Jamie Foxx as President Sawyer was also enjoyable in a way, for a character such as this. While at times his impression of Obama can get distracting at times, he still has moments that really do shine. James Woods plays Martin Walker, and he really steals the show as the villain. He’s cold, he’s unforgiving, he’s all the things that make a villain such as this. Jason Clarke also appears in the film as a former Delta Force operative, now leading a group. He really does pull through in the film, being intimidating, and actually posing a strong threat to Tatum in the film. It’s also nice to see him put to use, rather than have hardly any in “Gatsby.”

Now the question you’re probably asking is how this compares to “Olympus Has Fallen.” Well, I’d say “Olympus Has Fallen” is the better film, because it felt like it had more tension and it was more straight forward, where as “White Has Down” has more twists and turns to it, but I felt like it didn’t get me as invested as “Olympus” did. And the main reason is because of Joey King as the daughter in “WHD,” who was INCREDIBLY annoying! I don’t want to go into too much detail, but here’s the just of it: imagine a live-action Lisa Simpson, without ANY of the charm. King, I enjoyed you in “Dark Knight Rises” and “Oz,” but this role didn’t work for you.

Aside from that, “White House Down” is still an enjoyable film, just in the sheer fun of how bad it is. If you’re looking for a film that’s in that same goofy action flick, with a mid-90’s flare to it, definitely check it out.

Rating: 7/10