"Olympus Has Fallen" Review (some spoilers)

[foolish_m0rtal]

It was Christmas Eve, and I was alone in my apartment drinking more wine than was good for me, so I decided to watch a dumb movie. Olympus Has Fallen had come highly recommended to me as a movie to slash watch on Netflix, and I was not disappointed.

The Bad
Let's get this out of the way: the movie itself? Meh. Annoyingly hyper-patriotic and racist against Asians. There's an eye-roll worthy woman fridging scene early in the film. Standard explosions, and it took itself far too seriously for the kind of movie it actually was. I didn't know what the fuck was going on half the time. Air Force One had the underlying unity and teamwork as the hook, and Die Hard had the insouciant one liners. In contrast, this movie didn't have much underpinning all the action. The foundation for this movie, indeed, looks like it was...

The Good
The slash, which we will address in a moment, and the cast. Speaking of which...

The Cast
Pretty damn decent cast. Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Angela Bassett, Morgan Freeman, (neither of whom got the kind of meaty roles I would have liked to see) Rick Yune, Melissa Leo.

Putting aside momentarily the plot villifying every single Asian person in this movie, Rick Yune was a spectacular villain. Dapper as hell in his waistcoat, master planner, cool as a cucumber. He's fucking gorgeous, and he did a very fine job with the part he was given.


oh shit, sonnnn

The Premise
Mike Banning (Butler) works as the head of security for the President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) and his family. A tragedy in the middle of an icy road compels Asher to dismiss Banning from his post.

18 months later, North Korean terrorists invade and destroy the White House, taking Asher and his staff hostage in an effort to get nuclear test codes, in order to detonate them in their silos and destroy a bunch of America. Banning, who is now working a desk job at the Treasury, does a Die Hard into the White House to save Asher and his young son Connor. He redeems himself in the eyes of Asher and gets his old job back.

There's a lot of other shit that I missed because I was focused on...

The Slash
Dear god, the slash in this movie is un-fucking-believable. The very first scene of the movie (really, one of the few rare highlights of the film) is a full-on romantic boxing scene with Banning and Asher sparring in a private boxing ring at Camp David. It is so enjoyable. There's something about tough guys beating each other up and standing too close and aggressively flirting. I was amazed. You could watch this scene and be done with the movie, and that would be absolutely FINE.

Without the opening backstory timestamp, this film could be about McClane!Banning fighting his way into the White House to get back his estranged husband and their child. Accepting this as your canon will help you get through the bad parts of this movie (also employ alcohol). Banning's papa bear moments with Connor are precious and very much in the tone of a surrogate father. The kid 100% ships the ship. I like that kid. He did not get enough screen time.

Until the end when Banning and Asher are reunited, (read: the middle garbage bits), they don't have much interaction, but the opening scene is so good at setting the intimacy between them that you absolutely believe Banning is ineluctably in love with Asher and out to tear apart anyone who tries to lay a finger on him. Asher's 'my husbando is coming to get me' expressions don't help.

In the end, Banning and Asher limp out of the destroyed White House together and decide to have conversations within kissing distance at any opportunity, you know, as you do.


"why are these snipers yelling at us to kiss?"

To close, Asher delivers an uplifting monologue about new beginnings, setting an example, and becoming the best of ourselves, which is the most formal coming out speech I have ever heard at a White House press conference.

Connor and Banning stand off in the First Family corner while wearing matching outfits, because they are a cute family. At first I thought Asher would invite Banning up on stage, but nope, He's just there to fill the First Spouse position. Later on, they share a drawn-out eye-fuckery handshake, because it would be indecorous to kiss your man in front of the White House Press Corps.


Angela Bassett is not fooled

Other thoughts
Olympus Has Fallen has all the hallmarks of an old-school action flick, the kind that we don't see much anymore (remember Air Force One and Independence Day? Remember when we were crazy for those films?), coupled with a very 80s sort of homoeroticism.
Perhaps for that reason, there's a lot of old school nostalgia in this ship, especially in terms of "don't" factors, social or personal obstacles that the protagonists must face in order to be together, which was popular in fostering gayngst in fics back then. Banning has to decide between having a personal relationship with the Ashers and maintaining a professional distance to protect them and do his job. Asher has to balance his personal life and tragedy with his presidency, the eye of the American public, and his duty as a father.

jedibuttercup's series All the President's Men does a great job of capturing their characters and particular struggles. Both men are competent, resilient, and honor-bound to their duty to their position while carefully pushing the professional and friendly boundaries with each other.

In Conclusion
I don't think Olympus Has Fallen deserves your time if you have something better to watch, but if you have nothing to watch, this one isn't too bad as a 'MURRICA drinking game, and the slash is electric and refreshing, set thusly in the middle of a mindless political action flick.