White House Down (4 Stars)

This is a first for me. It's the only time I've ever watched a film on the recommendation of Mark Kermode. As I've said a few times in the past, his opinions on films are diametrically opposed to mine. He's praised "White House Down" more than once, in comparison with both "Olympus has fallen" and "London has fallen". I've eyed the film for years, with positive and negative prejudices. I was prejudiced in the film's favour because it was made by a Stuttgart director, Roland Emmerich. I was prejudiced against the film because it stars Jamie Foxx. I finally picked up the film when I saw it in the bargain bin at Saturn for 2.99 Euros.

When I was watching it, I was immediately impressed by the big special effects. They're what you would expect after seeing Roland Emmerich's catastrophe movies. The film itself has a good plot. The head of the White House secret service has a plan to overthrow the president. It's actually more complicated than that, but I don't want to give away the plot developments that slowly unravel. First there's an explosion at the Capitol, as a diversion. Then armed men overrun the White House.

The film's hero is Channing Tatum as John Cale, a man who's turned down for a job in the White House security team. Jamie Foxx plays President James Sawyer, who is clearly modelled on Barak Obama, the president at the time.

That's where the problems start. There's too much politics. The film's background is that the president has plans for peace in the Middle East. That's something Obama promised, but never achieved. But then the casting is an even bigger problem. I've never considered Jamie Foxx to be a particularly good actor. I've been disappointed with him in every film he made, except for "Django Unchained" and "Amazing Spider-Man 2". Somehow there's nothing exciting about his performances. The same applies to Channing Tatum. He's just dull, even when he's supposed to be playing an action hero. Together, they aren't enough to carry a film.

Nevertheless, the film deserves 4 Stars for its action alone. It's a good film, though not up to the quality of "Olympus has fallen". I don't understand why Mark Kermode prefers it, but then again, I've never understood his film ratings.

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