Movie Critique…….. (1)

Movie Appraisal: Olympus Has Fallen

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Movie Appraisal: Olympus Has Fallen

Movie Synopsis

The premise of the well-hewed political thriller from Antoine Fuqua revolves around a terrorist plot by a North Korean extremists that is carried out with terrifying meticulousness skirting the seemingly impassable defenses of White house as well as those surrounding the U.S president. The film’s title borrows from the fictional Secret Service code “Olympus” for the White House. The film rolls out when the White House is captured by the North Korean terrorist mastermind and the President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) is kidnapped. Mike Banning (Gerald Buttler), a disgraced former presidential Secret Service Agent finds himself entangled in the rescue mission as the national security team scuffles to respond to the happenings while relying on Banning’s inside knowledge to aid win back the control of White House as well as save the President. In addition, the security agents are confronted with further challenges of averting larger terrorism threats from the North Korean instigators.

Plot and Story Telling

The most fundamental aspect instrumental in analyzing the story of a film is through evaluating the plot of the film which can be complex, simple, timeless or believable. Further, investigating the characters and symbolic elements is vital in comprehending the story in the film (Conklin, 2004). In Olympus Has Fallen time is handled in a linear sense. It is also crucial to note that the climax and denouement are revealed in a believable manner. Additionally, the film accentuates a sense of believability by portraying the universal truth of the world as it is. This follows from current terrorist threats to the United States and the world at large especially from the North Korea extremists (Eagan, 2013). These aspects make film generally believable and alleviate the viewer’s doubt so as to enjoy the movie.

The Secret Service Agent Mike Banning is formerly assigned as the President guard and is close to the first family besides being a mentor to the president’s son. As the films plot unravels, the President and First Lady’s life are endangered as they travel from Camp David and Mike is only able to save the President’s life. Consequently, Mike is reassigned to a desk job in the Department of Treasury. A few years later, as the President hosts a delegation from South Korea, a plane crashes over the White House when it is shot after defying an order to land. Secret Service agents are shot during the incidence (Zwecker, 2013). The President is taken into a bunker.

The former agent Mike observes the happenings from his office and resolves to take charge and shoots at the shooters. In the meantime some of the members of the Korean delegation pulls out their guns and shoots all the secret service agents. In addition, all the Secret agents and security personnel outside white House are also killed by the extremists who take over the White House (Zwecker, 2013). The terrorists call the Pentagon from the bunker where they make demands to the Speaker of the House, Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman), who by protocol is in-charge. The Speaker of the House is dissuaded by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs not to give in to the terrorists’ demands. As events unfold, Mike manages to get a cellphone while still in the White House and calls the Pentagon to give the leaders updates. Mike finally manages to locate the President’s son before he fights out the extremists and saves the President.

Acting and Characters

The way characters are presented in the film is critical in one appreciating the storyline. An audience learns about the characters fundamentally through the dialogue, their appearances as well as their interactions in the movie (Boggs & Petrie, 2004). The characters mannerism, dressing, speech patterns and accent offer immediate cues to the viewers on how a character is interpreted. Mike Banning can be categorized as the protagonist. In addition, he can be considered as complex and mythic. The North Korean Terrorist Masterminds can be in this case taken to be the protagonists. In addition, while the head terrorist role could have easily degenerated into a one-dimension cartoonvillain, the character Rick Yune (Yang) is terrific as the disturbingly charming while at the same time completely disastrous as the mastermind of the entire terrorist plot (Vandel, 2013).

Cinematography, Editing, Directing and Production

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Olympus Has Fallen based on a script by Creighton Rotherberger and Katrin Benedikt. The production Company, Millennium Films, gained the spec script in 2012 and later in the month of March the same year, Gerard Butler was cast as the star. Throughout June and July 2012, the rest of the characters were cast Filming of the movie began in mid-July 2012 in Shreveport, Louisiana. This is indicative that the movie was filmed far away from its actual setting in Washington DC which compelled the production team relied heavily on sound and visual effects such as computer-generated imagery.

It should be noted that computer software were used to create and develop the opening sequence where the First Lady succumbs to a car accident. The Chroma key greenscreen technology was used to amalgamate the actors into the computer generated snowy scenery. In addition, the scene where characters in the movie are portrayed walking in and out of White House, a first-floor façade and entrance were built and computers gave additions to second floor, downtown Washington cityscape and roof (Vandel, 2013).

All scenes with the White House appearing in the background were casted in the open fields. Consequently, the White House and Washington D.C. were added into the film during bulkpost-production. Symbolism has been employed in the film to accentuate the theme as well as adding depth to the storyline (Boggs & Petrie, 2004). The White House appearing in the background has been used repeatedly to emphasis and for metaphorical purposes. Additionally, such symbols such as Pentagon and White House have been effective in increasing their worth in the film to the audience.

Exploring the Film’s Genre

In carrying out a critical evaluation of a film it is vital to consider its genre. It is imperative to note that the genre classification of a film carries with it an instantaneous recognition of given accepted truths about the film. The genre of the film is successful by either following these given concords or by simply breaking them (Boggs & Petrie, 2004). Olympus Has Fallen can be said to belong solely to one particular genre, specifically the political thriller film. However, the film can be said to have borrowed some cinematic elements from action films subject to the violence aspects in the film. While Fuqua does not present any new grounds in the political thriller genre, Olympus Has Fallen demonstrates a very taut, sharp adventure that manages to keep the audience engrossed from the beginning to the end. Adding splendidly to the suspense is the excellent visual effects and surprising twists the film delivers.

Societal Impact and Overall Contextual Theme

The fights and the violence in the film are poorly choreographed which demonstrates the movie as an apparatus for delivering bereavement. From the film, splattered skulls, crushing bodies in the debris and disintegrating limbs from high-caliber bullets has demonstrated an ugly, grin film although it does demonstrate to a greater extent the fears and realities emanating from terrorist threats (Eagan, 2013). Contrary, during the climax and at the end of the film, the greatest lesson portrayed is that America prevails and that the terrorist attacks and threats cannot disintegrate the American spirit and extremists heinous acts cannot infringe upon the citizen’s freedom.

References

Boggs J. & Petrie D.W. (2004). The Art of Watching Films. 6th Ed. McGraw-Hill. Boston.

Conklin M. S. (2004). How to Critique a Movie: A Short Guide for Amateur Film Critics. Retrieved from < http://www.whitcraftlearningsolutions.com/Resources/How-To-Critique-A-Movie.pdf>

Eagan D. (2013). Film Review: Olympus Has Fallen. Film Journal International. Retrieved from <http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/content_display/reviews/major-releases/e3if77d045f31f6658754ec2e66dced7938>

Vandel (2013). Olympus Has Fallen Review. Ruthless Reviews. Retrieved from <http://www.ruthlessreviews.com/15770/olympus-has-fallen-review/>

Zwecker B. (2013). Olympus Has Fallen. Reviews. Retrieved from <http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/olympus-has-fallen-2013>