Review: London Has Fallen (2016)

In this doubly preposterous and cut-price sequel to Olympus Has Fallen, Gerard Butler returns to punch, stab and shoot his way through the destruction in order to get the President of the United States (Aaron Eckhart) to safety once more as no-nonsense Secret Service agent Mike Banning. This time, the action has relocated to London, where heads of state from around the world have converged for the Prime Minister’s funeral. It’s not long before bombs begin exploding left, right and centre as part of a deadly terrorism plot by arms dealer Aamir Barkawi (Alon Aboutboul). There’s something to be said for watching famous London landmarks reduced to rubble, and there’s a quickness to the first act that sets things up surprisingly well. But the pace soon slows down to a repetitive drawl as the threadbare – not to mention deeply unrealistic – narrative is stretched beyond belief and bad CGI reigns supreme. Butler does his manly routine well, shouting home reams of cheesy one-liners as if they’re critical declarations, while Morgan Freeman sits in the renovated White House with a permanent look of bewilderment plastered across his face. It’s an expression that’s more than likely to sum up many audiences’ reaction to London Has Fallen, bar those able to discard belief.