Starring: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, James Woods
Afghanistan veteran John Cale (Tatum) is looking to work in the White House as part of the security team protecting the president, James W. Sawyer (Foxx). Whilst attending an interview for a job and taking along his politically-inclined daughter Emily (Joey King) with him, the White House is subjected to a major terrorist attack and John must protect the president and the White House at all cost.
It would seem difficult to believe but in the last few months there have been tw big-budget action films in which a man must take on terrorists who have attacked the White House, between White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen (2013). It seems that in the battle for box office supremacy, Olympus has won, with White House Down doing pretty poorly Stateside, even if it is the better of the two films, its loss being most likely because it was released later. However, White House Down is not a great film, it's simply more palatable than Olympus Has Fallen. Whereas Olympus is covered in a story and execution that is noticeably, even frighteningly right-wing, White House Down seems a lot more mocking of the situation and is willing to have a lot more fun; its more liberal slant clear by the fact that Jamie Foxx is playing Barack Obama in all but name, the terrorists are comprised of some right-wing militants (as opposed to Olympus having a terrorist cell from North Korea) as well as a somewhat comically-played Glenn Beck/Rush Limbaugh-esque supporting character.
There are problems in that the film is extremely predictable and it's the same old Roland Emmerich show of explosions and pure superficial stupidity, but there's a sense of self-awareness and acceptance of his style and its flaws, even having a character mentioning Emmerich's earlier film, Independence Day. The film is far from bright and the same is true of its lead (who seems wholly unaware of anything relating to history or politics) but there's an all-star cast who all perform largely to the styles they're accustomed too. White House Down is not a film that an arthouse auteur would be proud of, but its sense of humour and lack of pretension does make it entertaining and strangely endearing.
Next time, Freddie Highmore plays a young man looking to become a knight in Justin And The Knights Of Valour.
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