Olympus Has Fallen was one of the more enjoyable straight out action movies in recent times. The sequel, London Has Fallen was well enough made but lacked any credibility. Gerard Butler now returns for a third time as secret service agent Mike Banning. Although he manages to foil an assassination attempt on President Trumball (Morgan Freeman), the suspicion falls on him, and he has to go on the run to clear his name.
This is a story that we have all seen so many times before. The planted evidence mounts up and Mike does not know who he can trust as he tries to work out who set him up. In fact, there is not any real mystery to that. The identity of the person who betrays him is revealed early on and the chief villain pulling the strings is signposted from the start.
What is lacks in originality in both the plot and the dialogue, it makes up for in other ways. Butler is in his element with the way he handles the action scenes and director Ric Roman Waugh keeps things moving at a good pace.
The supporting cast is better than you might expect. As well as Freeman, there is wonderfully grizzled Nick Nolte, a good performance Jada Pinkett Smith as the FBI agent chasing Mike, as well as Danny Huston and Tim Blake Nelson both having a lot of fun.
Aside from the surprise killing of one of the main characters, this is pretty predictable stuff, but it is a lot of fun and the two hour running time flew by.
Rating: 7 out of 10