White House Down
Starring: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Richard Jenkins, Joey King
Director: Roland Emmerich
Rating: 3.5/5
Roland Emmerich knows how to make a blockbuster movie with the likes of Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow already under his belt.
He is back in the director’s chair for White House Down as we see Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx team up for the first time.
Capitol Policeman John Cale (Tatum) has just been denied his dream job with the Secret Service of protecting President James Sawyer (Foxx). Not wanting to let down his little girl with the news, he takes her on a tour of the White House, when the complex is overtaken by a heavily armed paramilitary group.
Now, with the nation’s government falling into chaos and time running out, it’s up to Cale to save the president, his daughter, and the country.
It’s a shame that we have already had a movie like this earlier this year - Olympus Has Fallen - but that doesn’t stop White House Down from being a great action romp.
If you are looking for a film that is action packed and led by a pair of mismatched and yet funny lead characters, then this is absolutely the movie for you.
You have got to take White House Down for what it is; a popcorn movie that is over the top as well as a little predictable.
But it is a hugely enjoyable film as Emmerich and co move from one over the top scene to another; but you can’t help but get swept along with it all.
And that is mostly thanks to the two central performances from Tatum and Foxx - they really turn out to be a fantastic team.
John Cale is your everyman who just wants the chance to better his life and win over his daughter - a young girl that he has a difficult relationship with.
Cale is a man in the wrong place at the wrong time and yet in jumps into action, and you really cannot help but like him.
Jamie Foxx plays an Obamaesque President in the film - a man who wants to end war in the Middle East and bring all of the troops home.
Tatum and Foxx have a fantastic chemistry and this really does turn into a buddy movie; they provide most of the laughs as well.
At 130 minutes it is a little long and Emmerich could easily have shaved off ten or fifteen minutes without having any impact on the story.
Look, this is not a movie that is going to win any awards, but it is just one of those films that you can just kick back and get swept along by.
It really is a lot of fun - it’s clear that Tatum and Foxx are just having a ball - and it is set to be one of my guilty pleasures of 2013.
You know what you are going to get from a Roland Emmerich film; big, bold, action packed and over the top… and that is exactly what he has delivered with White House Down.
White House Down is out now.
Tagged in Channing Tatum Jamie Foxx Roland Emmerich