Angel Has Fallen

Here’s a simplistic assessment of a very simplistic movie. It’s awful! Gerard Butler plays a not very convincing Secret Service agent named Mike Banning.  His latest assignment is to protect the President while he is fishing. Morgan Freeman plays President Trumbull. He is way more believable in that role.  Some very bad people try to assassinate the president with hundreds of tiny drones, but although they wipe out virtually the entire protection force, luckily he is saved by Banning.  But, the President is in a coma and Banning is seriously injured.  Instead of congratulations, the FBI accuses him of attempted murder on ludicrous, planted evidence that even the most incompetent police, much less the FBI, Secret Service and DC Metro Police, would not fall for.  But as in many of these stories, cinematic or televised, the bad guys have all the best tech, weapons, tactics and performance, while the good guys are easily fooled, arrogant, presumpuous dupes. Banning must now escape the hospital and figure out who set him up (this is no mystery, you will know who it is in the first 15 minutes).  The rest of the movie is just plain silly and full of cliche after cliche.  You could drive a truck through the plot holes. The action is inconsistent, contrived and pays little inclination towards sensibility-even allowing for the suspension of disbelief movies like this require. It’s just shoot ’em up, nothing more.  It’s tired movie making, and has little inspiration or creativity. Nick Nolte shows up as Banning’s estranged  dad, a grizzled old Vietnam tunnel rat who is living off the grid with more explosive weaponry than a good sized National Guard armory.  He puts a little life into his role, but there really isn’t much to go on.  I  expected a movie in the vein of “The Fugitive”, “Minority Report”, “Shooter” or even the Jason Bourne movies.  The hero accused of a crime he/she didn’t commit has been a staple of Hollywood since “The 39 Steps”came out in 1935!  This movie, however, may kill the entire genre.  I really can’t recommend this one, but if you do go, wait until a few of the credits have passed for a little post-credit scene – it is the only part of the movie that I hope you get a chance to see.