WHITE HOUSE DOWN - archive from 11th September 2013

Saw 'WHITE HOUSE DOWN' last night from that Directorial Master of Disaster Roland Emmerich (ID4 & 2012 etc.) This is the second time he has trashed the White House - the first from above in ID4 and now from below. This time it's a tale of a hostile takeover plot by disgruntled employees and other unsavoury American criminal types after a huge wad of cash, and to create war in the Middle East to keep the war machine running for financial & economical gain, and to support their megalomaniacal tendencies!

All good stuff and whatever you say about Emmerich he can turn on the spectacle, the action and the body count in grand OTT style. All that said this is a lot of hokum really that could easily be the sixth instalment in the John McLean franchise and could have been called 'DIE HARD WITH A PRESIDENT', and the similarity doesn't end there! The lead character in both films is called John, both are estranged from their respective wives, and in this film as in 'DH5' the offspring of both heroes refer to their father by their Christian name rather than good old fashioned 'Dad'. 

Channing Tatum stars as John Cale here and puts in a convincing turn as the right guy in the wrong place at the wrong time having to overcome the enemy within the confines of said building and save the President (Jamie Foxx channeling Barack Obama with a rocket launcher), his daughter, and the free world, whilst overcoming rock steady James Woods as the mastermind bad guy. 

This is good fun shoot 'em up entertainment delivered with the trademark Emmerich touches that deliver on many levels, and in Tatum here we could just have a successor to Willis!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-