Angel Has Fallen…Again

Angel Has Fallen

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Angel Has Fallen is that it actually got made. I’m not talking about the behind the scenes struggle to get this movie made (as if it were some labor of love), I’m talking about the fact that this is the third installment in a series of films that were (amazingly) made to begin with. Not that over-the-top action thrillers about Secret Service Agents going above and beyond the line of duty to protect the POTUS is a non-starter. The same year that Antoine Fuqua’s Olympus Has Fallen (2013) was released, Roland Emmerich’s White House Down was also released. Apparently it’s not just great minds that think alike, but mediocre minds as well.

Alas, Emmerich’s film cost $150 million to make and only brought in a boxoffice of $205.4 million where Fuqua’s film cost merely $70 million but raked in $170 million. It may have generated $35 million less than White House Down, but Olympus Has Fallen was ultimately more profitable London Has Fallen (2016) was made. The sequel, made for only $60 million managed to make $205 million so it was a no brainer there’d be a third. Angel Has Fallen rounds out this trilogy of silly ideas done with mediocre panache. In fairness to Fuqua, his film was the best of the bunch all though some might disagree and argue this more recent one is more fun.

The series revolves around former Army Ranger Mike Banning played by the reliably mediocre Gerard Butler, and his bestest buddy POTUS, more affectionately known as President Asher (Aaron Eckhart) are “sir.” By the third installment President Asher is no longer “sir” in Banning’s book and President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman who played Vice President Trumbull in the prior two movies) is Bannings new bestest bud. In the first one (Olympus Has Fallen), North Korean terrorists attacked the president and it was up to Banning to save the day. Spoiler Alert: He did.

In the second (London Has Fallen) and implausibly, the same president is again under terrorist attack only this time (just to make a tad plausible I suppose) while he’s in London. It’s once again up to Banning to save the day and just as inevitably as that glass slipper fit Cinderella he once again saves the day. With Angel Has Fallen the series mixes it up a bit with this president being Morgan Freeman instead of Aaron Eckhardt. Presumably this is because President Asher’s two terms were served and Trumball was elected in his stead, and presumably these movies still cling to semblance of reality.

So, the reality thing being covered and all, this time President Trumball is attacked by homegrown terrorists. Once again it is up to Banning to save the day but is he up to it? Banning, you see, is getting old and feeling the damage from all the wear and tear of saving the day one too many Fallen movies. On top of that, he’s been framed and made to look as if he has betrayed his new bestest bud POTUS II. Can Banning overcome his physical ailments in time to stop the homegrown grown terrorists? Far be it from me to spoil that for you. You’ll just have to go see the movie for yourself…or not.