Film Review – White House Down
2 min read
*SPOILER ALERT*
President-in-jeopardy film White House Down stars Channing Tatum as a veteran and secret service wanna-be who happens to be on a tour at the White House with his young daughter when it is attacked by a paramilitary style terrorist group. Preceding the White House attack, the group blows up the US Capitol building in spectacular fashion, which turns out to be only a distraction for the true purpose which was to attack the White House, kidnap the President and demand a $400 million ransom from the Federal Reserve Bank. But as it turns out, that was ALSO a distraction from the TRUE, true purpose which was to attack the White House, kidnap the President, make it appear he had been killed so that Vice President would be sworn-in as president, kill the former Vice President (now President) so the Speaker of the House would be sworn-in, and unleash the US nuclear arsenal on the Middle East as revenge for one soldier’s death in the middle-east conflict. I’m not kidding. That’s the plot.
Actually, that’s only part of the plot in this drawn-out, bloated action film that stretches for 2 hours. As the story drags on and gets ever more convoluted, the action progresses to a point of near ridiculum with such antics as the President of the United States (Jami Foxx) firing a rocket launcher at the terrorists while hanging out the side of the presidential limo being driven by Channing Tatum doing doughnuts on the White House lawn. I may sound like I’m giving away a lot, but really…this is only the half of it.
Obviously, the film shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Foxx and Tatum do have a good comedic chemistry, there are a few funny moments, and the set rendering of the White House is very realistic. The action sequences, however, are relentless and a little far-fetched. So if you are a die-hard action movie fan, who doesn’t mind suspending all disbelief, then you will probably enjoy this movie. Oh…but you also have to like kids.
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::: Renowned For Sound Technical Director and Film Reviewer ::: Robert is an IT geek, movie fan and part-time movie reviewer/editor. Robert also looks after the ‘behind the scenes’ technical elements of Renowned For Sound.