Movie Marathon - White House Down vs Olympus Has Fallen

Swapping Roman action adventures for Die Hard esque one man army action films, I now see who can blow up the White House better, White House Down or Olympus Has Fallen?

Both were released in 2013 and involve terrorists forcing the President into making a terrible decision. Not exactly an original concept but seeing as how White House Down's director Roland Emmerich has destroyed America before in Independence Day, Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012, I anticipated some explosive enjoyment. That said, Olypus Has Fallen is directed by Antoine Fuqua who was behind Training Day, Shooter and Southpaw. He was also the one responsible for the dismal King Arthur film but no one is perfect.

Not knowing much about either to begin with, I saw White House Down first that stars Channing Tatum as the hero saving Jamie Foxx as the President from James Woods and Jason Clarke. Right from the get go, it was clear that this one was relying on humour and family-friendly action. This had worked before with Emmerich but his strength has always been in his visual scope so it felt strange to have a film confined to one primary location. Making matters worse, this was filmed entirely in a studio and the dodgy CGI/lighting made this evidently clear.

The action itself had its moments but lacked a sense of gravity to the point of it almost being a cartoon. We see people die in large numbers which never gelled with Emmerich's attempts at humour. Tattum and Foxx manage to get by with some good chemistry and a few jokes here and there but it ultimately falls flat.

Emmerich is no Christopher Nolan when it comes to delivering great action sequences but even here I was surprised by how clunky and miss-handled the film felt. He also extends beyond the two hour mark when this would have easily benefited from a 90 minute runtime.

In comparison to the family-friendly(?) action with Channing Tatum, Olympus Has Fallen sees Gerard Butler go up against North Korean terrorists to rescue the President (Aaron Eckhart), along with the help of Morgan Freeman. After the last disappointment, I was sceptical about another White House action film but was pleasantly surprised right from the start at how solid this one was to watch.

Unlike White House Down, Fuqua keeps things simple in his attempt at a Die Hard film. There are touches of humour here and there but he manages to keep the drama at the top of his list, partly due to a sharper script and smoother story. I can't say that this is the best action film of 2013 but what it does, it does well. This is also less of a studio film than Emmerich's as a Korean plane opens fire on Washington before the White House security are caught in a massacre leaving it up to Butler to save the day.

All in all, Olympus Has Fallen is a far more satisfying and enjoyable film to watch. It knows what it is and keeps straight to that. Whether the sequel will be any good remains to be seen, but between the two, this is the clear winner.