When a man is tired of an action movie, he is tired of life. No matter how much it is dressed up in plot, characterisation, twists and turns – sometimes all you need is to sit back and watch the testosterone flow.

Admittedly it is not the film genre that would endear one to a first date, unless they were in to that kind of thing. Whether there is a contractual obligation to balance the universe with romantic comedies and action movies, which seem to be churned out in equal measure throughout the filmic year, we shall never know.

This latest action thriller is the first of two films set around an attack on the White House.

Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is a no nonsense head of President Benjamin Asher’s (Aaron Eckhart) security detail. En route to a Christmas party at Camp David, a terrible car accident leaves Mike forced to make a choice between saving Asher or the President’s wife – he opts for the man he is obliged to protect.

Eighteen months later Mike is working a desk job at Treasury when a delegation to South Korea meets at the White House, only to be interrupted by an armed militia who stage a daring and brutal attack on the surrounding area and storm the White House.

While the President is evacuated to his Bunker, some of the Korean delegation reveal themselves to be terrorists from the North and take him hostage. Mike, who is clearly not the kind of man to sit quietly, runs towards the carnage to try and help and becomes a one man army against the terrorists to rescue his old boss.

Olympus Has Fallen is a shamelessly over the top, clichéd action movie and is all the more fun for it. It has a great cast, all chewing the scenery – from Morgan Freeman as The Speaker of the House, made Acting President to a really rather aggressive President in Eckhart.

Butler puts in the kind of deadpan hard man performance we used to see from the likes of Bruce Willis, and is clearly enjoying himself. The plot and dialogue are somewhat predictable, but there is genuine tension and you are not sure if things are going to work out how you would like.

Enjoyable, over the top and one for a boys night out.

7/10

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Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here