One of two movies to premiere in 2013 with the premise of the White House being captured by terrorists, I found it generally disappointing though not as far-fetched as such an idea should be. The fact that a lone man jumped the fence and got into the White House last year makes this much more plausible.
The movie supposes an impossible attack on the White House occurs. An enemy airplane briefly dominates the Washington DC airspace and strafes the White House, killing most of the defensive forces on the roof and many on the ground. Then a ground assault takes place with forty men with automatic weapons charging across the south lawn while being supported by 50 caliber emplacements from the street. RPGs and suicide vests are used to breach fences and doorways. Meanwhile, the President has retreated to his bunker, taking the South Korean Premier and his entourage with him. Not surprisingly, the premier's security team are all plants and quickly subdue everyone in the bunker; Olympus has fallen.
The president (Aaron Eckhart) demonstrates repeated bad judgment that leads to a near catastrophe for the country at the end. He ordered that the South Korean security team be included in the bunker despite a protest from a Secret Service agent. He ordered the Joint Chiefs of Staff to reveal a top secret code, since it was useless without the other two codes. Then he ordered his Secretary of Defense to reveal the second code, since it was useless without the other code. Then the enemy hacker broke the third code. Who saw that coming? But it gets worse.
The military has finally arrived on scene only a couple of minutes after the last Secret Service agent died in the White House and signaled, "Olympus has fallen." Do they charge in to retake the place? No, the bad guy tells them to stand down or he will start killing hostages. The President, in a rare moment of good judgment, said," Don't negotiate" before he was shoved out of the camera. General Clegg (Robert Forster) did not negotiate; he immediately acceded to the terrorist's demands. He stood down his forces on the scene and allowed the terrorists to secure the perimeter and put together an anti-air defense system. Speaker Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) arrives at the Pentagon to learn he is the acting president. He also decides not to attack the White House and even complies with the terrorist demands that the 7th Fleet be withdrawn from the Sea of Japan and that US troops withdraw from South Korea. He knows this will likely result in a war that will cost thousands upon thousands of lives but, in order to save a few hostages in the president's bunker, he does it anyway. By their decisions, President Asher, General Clegg, and Acting-President Trumbull allow the terrorists to nearly achieve a national apocalypse. Why didn't they resist? To save a dozen hostages. Only 2 hostages survived with their chosen path.
Of course, much of this happens on the fringe of the main story which follows Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) stalking about the ruins of the White House and, Die Hard style, killing off the terrorists. That part was a lot of fun with guns, knives, and fisticuffs galore.
Again, the very premise of the movie is ludicrous. Such an attack could not have hoped to succeed. The enemy aircraft would not have been able to dispatch the US interceptors and the Secret Service agents at the White House would not have stood on the lawn - like sitting ducks - armed only with pistols. But if it did happen this way, the President would be impeached when it came to light that he ordered the release of codes and that he broke protocol to allow the terrorists into his bunker. General Clegg was in a hard situation with the civilian chain-of-command broken and might have felt an assault on the White House wasn't his decision to make (if only the president had said "attack" instead of "don't negotiate"). Even so, he would likely loose his job in the aftermath. Speaker Trumbull was Acting President. He did not act in the interest of the country but in the interest of a dozen hostages in the president's bunker. He does not deserve a leadership position. I guess that part didn't make it into the movie. Maybe in the sequel.
The president (Aaron Eckhart) demonstrates repeated bad judgment that leads to a near catastrophe for the country at the end. He ordered that the South Korean security team be included in the bunker despite a protest from a Secret Service agent. He ordered the Joint Chiefs of Staff to reveal a top secret code, since it was useless without the other two codes. Then he ordered his Secretary of Defense to reveal the second code, since it was useless without the other code. Then the enemy hacker broke the third code. Who saw that coming? But it gets worse.
The military has finally arrived on scene only a couple of minutes after the last Secret Service agent died in the White House and signaled, "Olympus has fallen." Do they charge in to retake the place? No, the bad guy tells them to stand down or he will start killing hostages. The President, in a rare moment of good judgment, said," Don't negotiate" before he was shoved out of the camera. General Clegg (Robert Forster) did not negotiate; he immediately acceded to the terrorist's demands. He stood down his forces on the scene and allowed the terrorists to secure the perimeter and put together an anti-air defense system. Speaker Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) arrives at the Pentagon to learn he is the acting president. He also decides not to attack the White House and even complies with the terrorist demands that the 7th Fleet be withdrawn from the Sea of Japan and that US troops withdraw from South Korea. He knows this will likely result in a war that will cost thousands upon thousands of lives but, in order to save a few hostages in the president's bunker, he does it anyway. By their decisions, President Asher, General Clegg, and Acting-President Trumbull allow the terrorists to nearly achieve a national apocalypse. Why didn't they resist? To save a dozen hostages. Only 2 hostages survived with their chosen path.
Of course, much of this happens on the fringe of the main story which follows Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) stalking about the ruins of the White House and, Die Hard style, killing off the terrorists. That part was a lot of fun with guns, knives, and fisticuffs galore.
Again, the very premise of the movie is ludicrous. Such an attack could not have hoped to succeed. The enemy aircraft would not have been able to dispatch the US interceptors and the Secret Service agents at the White House would not have stood on the lawn - like sitting ducks - armed only with pistols. But if it did happen this way, the President would be impeached when it came to light that he ordered the release of codes and that he broke protocol to allow the terrorists into his bunker. General Clegg was in a hard situation with the civilian chain-of-command broken and might have felt an assault on the White House wasn't his decision to make (if only the president had said "attack" instead of "don't negotiate"). Even so, he would likely loose his job in the aftermath. Speaker Trumbull was Acting President. He did not act in the interest of the country but in the interest of a dozen hostages in the president's bunker. He does not deserve a leadership position. I guess that part didn't make it into the movie. Maybe in the sequel.
1 comment:
Turns out there is going to be a sequel! Amazingly, President Asher, Speaker Trumbull, and General Clegg are all still in their jobs and the movie isn't about their impeachments. Let's hope their judgment has improved for this one.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3300542/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast
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