Olympus Has Fallen: 'Murrca and CGI

On 03/30/2013 at 10:56 PM by Super Step

One of my coworkers said she worked on Beautiful Creatures and this in Louisiana (or at least this was in Louisiana, I forget if Beautiful Creatures was). Well, I don't know about the first, but this one was a good "America Fuck Yeah!" popcorn movie. Not really plot-heavy, just a lot of gunfire, interrogation, and gunfire. Also, gunfire. But I liked it.

That being said, you could probably watch Independence Day in its place, and just pretend the aliens are North Koreans, and there's a hostage situation. There's enough different here, but you'd be getting pretty close to the experience, except that this one takes advantage of an R-rating and has a really good Korean bad guy and a more Gerard Butlery hero. Acting is good, but the dialogue is cheesy; this is one of those movies where there's a lot of swelling music under speeches, and walking. Man, that is some epic hall walking.

But whatever, it was brutal and enjoyable for what it was. Only thing I couldn't stand is that everything outside the Whitehouse was CGI. I don't know how much was filmed in Louisiana or if they shot on location at all, but dear God, there was even a small flame I could tell they CGI'd and theres a scene where some of the terrorists drop the American flag off the White House, and I could tell they were in front of a green screen by their outline ... I'm also pretty sure that falling flag was CGI, but I don't remember exactly.Must be a money-saving thing, as my dad said when he saw Gerard Butler had helped produce it and might want more money to himself instead of spend on practical effects. I have no idea if that's the case, but it's certainly cheaper to film in Louisiana than Hollywood, so I could buy that.

Anyway, the action inside the White House once Morgan Freeman becomes President is actually pretty good, and there's a lot of testosterone inducing quotes, fights and shootouts, I just didn't like any time there was action outdoors. If you were thinking of seeing it, I'd say you'll have a good time as long as you know what you're in for, but if you don't like cheesy CGI action films, stay far away.

Halochief90

03/31/2013 at 12:21 AM

I like chessy CGI action-movies, provided I watch them in the theatre. Once they hit DVD the magic is gone and I usually can't make it through them.

Super Step Contributing Writer

03/31/2013 at 12:44 AM

It's incredibly corny, kind of like the original Die Hard mixed with Independence Day, so it's funny you say that, cause I think of it as a combo of movies that get replayed on TV a lot. lol

BrokenH

03/31/2013 at 01:28 AM

Not really interested in this based on first impression trailers but that doesn't mean I will not like it once I actually see it!

Incidentally Morgan Freeman is also in Tom Cruz's sci fi movie "Oblivion" and that's kind of tarnished the man's otherwise impeccable reputation with me.

Though it may not be entirely fair, whenever I see the name "Tom Cruz" I immediately think "Scientology bullshit". I thought Freeman had higher standards!

03/31/2013 at 01:41 AM

His personal life may be all kinds of crazy, but I actually did like Tom Cruise in some of his recent movies. He was pretty funny in Rock of Ages, actually.I do think Scientology needs to be sued successfully at some point, though, some of the crap they seem to do is a bit unsavory. I know it's seen as unfair for a non-religious person like me to say that, but I'm not asking for an investigation into the Knights of Columbus who do a lot of good despite my philosophical differences with them; these secretive pyramid scheme people who's previous followers report abuse on the other hand...

Morgan Freeman's actually not always in high-intellect movies, he was in Wanted and had a particularly funny line at the end; he's really good in this, too.

And I wasn't too excited based on trailers, but I wound up liking it for what it was, just a cheesy popcorn flick about 'Murrca taking down some turrorists with a bit too much CG for my tastes. lol

03/31/2013 at 01:51 AM

Nothing wrong with a decent fun popcorn flick! As for Tom, I do think he's a good actor. It's just the kind of person he is really grates on my nerves.

I suppose in retrospect I shouldn't judge Freeman simply for being in a Tom Cruz movie. Guilt by association isn't exactly fair.

smartcelt

03/31/2013 at 08:28 PM

Although the music in Rock Of Ages bothered me,Tom Cruise was good in it. The guy can be very funny. Remember his cameo in Tropical Thunder? The Hollywood mogul guy who screamed at people? In a way I feel sorry for him. Scientology works in a very insidious way on celebrities. It feeds on their ego and then traps them with their own secrets. They do this sorta "confession" thing regularly. All sessions are videotaped and stored by the church. Then they threaten to release them if the person wants to leave the church.

03/31/2013 at 09:14 PM

I am so glad the Catholic church doesn't record that shit ... although I'm pretty sure once some of us became aware there was a crack under the door where you could more or less make out what was being said, my confessions became a lot more boring; actually, they were pretty boring to start with, since I was such a goodie two shoes, but they got moreso. lol

SanAndreas

03/31/2013 at 04:15 AM

Lordy. Another implausible story about North Korea - a country that can't keep its lights on and whose sole purpose of existence is to act as a buffer zone between China and the United States Pacific Command - somehow taking over the world. How many is that now in the past couple of years?

03/31/2013 at 11:20 AM

At least two, there was that Red Dawn remake.

03/31/2013 at 03:28 PM

Don't forget Homefront, which was a video game remake of Red Dawn written by John Milius.

03/31/2013 at 03:46 PM

Did not know that. I don't really pay attention to FPS, so I only knew of the game's name, but not what it was about. I commented on a blog just a few minutes ago that noticed a lot of White House under siege movies, seems to be a theme. lol

Ranger1

03/31/2013 at 08:06 AM

I may watch it when it meanders over to Netflix. Otherwise, I'll save my money. I pretty much only go to the movies when it's a movie I really, really, really want to see.

03/31/2013 at 11:27 AM

I wasn't even that excited for this one, but my dad wanted to go. Actually, I had to point out to him that Rottentomatoes scores don't "average out" between the two numbers, it's just that critic and audience reactions are two completely separate numbers. But our nearby theater is cheap, so I didn't mind it. Netflix is definitely the better option if you're not that interested though, we ended up craning our necks in the first row, A/C wasn't on, and my mom had even said she didn't want to go cause she felt a bit sick, etc. She also thought the movie was dumb, I thought there was too much CGI, and dad just said he knew it'd be a popcorn action flick so he was ok with that. So was I in the end, but if it were up to me, I'd say this is better as a staple of cable TV.

03/31/2013 at 03:10 PM

This movie is right up my alley. We almost went to it yesterday. But we ended up seeing GI Joe:Retaliation instead. That's another movie where bullets fly and stuff gets blown all to hell. America...FU&$ YEAH!! That seemed to be the plot. But it was pretty good. I like Gerard Butler[he's a Scot you know]quite a bit. Morgan freeman is always incredible. So I must see that one.

03/31/2013 at 03:21 PM

I imagine if you liked GI Joe, you'll like this. Especially since you get to see a Scot being the most badass character. lol

Surfcaster

04/01/2013 at 10:36 AM

I ended up catching GI Joe this passed week instead, but it wasn't great. I think I'd rather see this. I haven't been hitting up enough movies so far this year, though, so I'll probably miss it. I already missed The Last Stand and A Good Day to Die Hard.

04/01/2013 at 01:51 PM

Apparently, you didn't miss much as far as Die Hard V from what I've heard. Honestly, you won't miss much with this one either, unless you're in the mood for it; it's good for what it is, but it's probably just as good as a rental. I only went to this cause my dad wanted to, otherwise I saw a TON of movies from 2012 (I count Zero Dark Thirty in that cause it was released in December 2012 limited, though I could only see it in January 2013) but not much this year. Hell, I'm still trying to see more from last year, gonna rent Cloud Atlas soon and Seven Psychopaths was awesome if you've got a Redbox near you. Movies don't really start kicking into high quality gear until summer, typically, so my rate of moviegoing increases by then, but the first part of the year has always been a bit of a dumping ground.

PixlBit

Olympus Has Fallen: 'Murrca and CGI

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