London has Fallen (5 Stars)

Take a look at the film poster above. Can you see something wrong with it? It might not be obvious at first, so look for a while.

It's one of my pet hates with film posters. It's a mistake made so often that everyone has got used to it. Everyone except me. Most film posters put the faces of the film's biggest stars next to one another. That's good marketing. A lot of people go to see films based on the actors, not the director. They also print the names of the actors on the poster. And that's where the errors creep in. The names don't match the actors. Look at the poster again. Do you see what I mean? "It doesn't matter", you might say. "We know who they are anyway". If it's that trivial, think how easy it would be to put it right. The faces could be rearranged, or the text could be rearranged.

This is a sequel to "Olympus has fallen", which I watched yesterday. It's unclear how much time has passed between the films. The sequel was released three years later, but evidently more time has passed in world. In the first film the president's son Connor was 10 years old. In this film we don't see him, but we're told that he's about to go on his first date. Maybe, just maybe, he's a young starter and is going on a date at 13, but I doubt it.

The film starts with news reports of a major terrorist attack in the Philippines, with hundreds dead and wounded. The mastermind behind the attack is the Pakistani arms dealer Aamir Barkawi. America retaliates with a rocket attack on his private residence. His daughter is getting married, so there are many people present. Aamir survives, but his daughter is killed, as well as many of the guests. He swears revenge.

Seriously, what does Aamir expect? "He who lives by the sword will die by the sword" (Matthew 26:52). This very wise Bible verse is just a different way of describing the law of Karma, which is found in many religions. If Aamir kills innocent civilians, he shouldn't be surprised if the ones he loves also die as collateral damage.

Aamir's revenge is spectacular. Two years later the British prime minister dies. World leaders gather in London for his funeral. Aamir's son leads a paramilitary force that attacks the politicians, killing many of them. However, his main target is the American president. He wants to capture him alive, so that he can execute him in a live broadcast.

Many innocent people are killed in the attack on London, but this film is less explicit than "Olympus has fallen". In the first film we see civilians being gunned down in the street, but in this film we just see the police and the terrorists shooting one another.

Once more, the president's personal bodyguard, Mike Banning, saves him. This time it's slightly more realistic. Instead of acting alone, he's backed up by an SAS squadron, in the last half hour at least.

"London has fallen" is another excellent film. It has the feeling of a disaster film, even though the destruction is man made. We never get to know the bad guys. We don't need to. They're like a force of nature. We're not intended to sympathise with them, we're intended to hate them and cheer when they get killed.

Success Rate:  + 1.4

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