White House Down (2013)
It’s Die Hard…
in the White House again
Is the main character an average Joe?
No, John Cale is a Capitol Policeman. He is on the detail of the speaker of the house, but has aspiration to join the secret sevice. He did a couple of tours in Afghanistan.
Sidekick?
The President Of The United States Of America! He saves the President quite early on and tries to get him into safety. While doing so the President at some moments becomes a full fledged sidekick as he’s shooting at the villains, kicking them in the face and even uses a rocket launcher from ground Force One.
Any personal problems?
He’s estranged from his daughter who he takes with him to the White House when he’s going for a job interview, and his profile doesn’t match that of the requirements of the Secret Service.
Is the lead character there by coincidence?
He has just finished a job interview and was participating on the tour when the terrorists come in.
Are there any friends or family in danger?
His daughter Emily was in the bath room when the terrorist burst in. Cale is out looking for her, but eventually the terrorists snatch her and find out the two of them are related.
What’s at stake and why aren’t the authorities doing anything?
The President Of The United States is missing, the terrorists have hostages and demand hundreds of millions at dollars whilethe authorities try and try again but there never seem to be able to truly take command of the situation.
Any charismatic villains?
Good old James Woods is the lead villain. He’s the head of the Secret Service so his betrayal should come as a surprise was it not for the fact that they gave him a long introduction at his home where he stands by a picture of his military son, puts his Star Spangled banner pin on the desk next to it and has an an emotional moment between him and his wife before he just goes off to work for another day at the office White House. There’s also Jason Clarke who’s the second in command of the terrorists, he’s decent and makesthings personal between him and Cale.
Is it any good?
It’s a decent movie but released so close after Olympus Has Fallen it also feels like a retread. There’s also the fact that this movie basically steals quite literally from Die Hard and even The Rock. The title character’s name “John Cale” bears much resemblance to “John McClane”, the family member who is a part of the hostages, one of the terrorists who has a pesonal vendetta against the hero, the computer nerd who informs the other terrorists and even the lead character talking to himself with a certain amount of wit. The motives of the villain has been copied from the The Rock with a man who has served his country for a long time now retaliating against it due to injustice.
They are planning a remake, I would go for Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Joe Manganiello, Milo Ventimiglia, Tom Welling, Chris Evans, Chris Pine, Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Runner, Derek Theler, or D.J. Cotrona as Gabe Walker; and Billy Zane, Kevin Spacey, Dominic Pace, Alec Baldwin, Gil Banks, Hugo Weaving, Robert Knepper, Brian Van Holt, Travis Fine, Skeet Ulrich, or Dash Mihok as Qualen.
I think there is a way to improve The Taking of Beverly Hills, like instead an undercover Fed helped crippled a militia group and imprisoned many members including their leader. But the leader’s brother and a few members of the group plant bombs all over Beverly Hills, and threaten to set them off if the leader is not released, and the undercover fed seeks out the bombs while his partners buy him time.
Blast is good, but it would be worthwhile to note that, Agent Lisa Reed (Vivica A. Fox) finds out that Michael Kittridge (Vinnie Jones) is actually a mercenary named Skyler Talbot and had killed the real Kittridge and stole his identity to throw off authorities.
I would like to see Christmas Rush. Anyone know where to find it?
There are some sites that list it as streamable, but I don’t know how legit they are. If you own an XBMC player I would advise you to look on that network.
What is an XBMC Player? I have never heard of one.
In most cases they are mediaplayers running Android. Because they run Android they can download an app named XBMC from Google’s Play Store. XBMC allows you to search and stream movies
Don’t forget the other scenarios like Terminal Rush, Interceptor, Crash Dive, Counter Measures, 12 Rounds: Reloaded, 12 Rounds: Lockdown, Project: Shadow Chaser, Command Performance, Demolition University, Cyberjack/Virtual Assassin, Final Voyage, and Air Rage.
For Speed 2: Cruise Control, it should have been Direct to Video, and not a sequel to Speed. The lead villain should have been a pirate instead of soft ware designer turned mad bomber trying to blow up a ship.
Every time I see “Air Force One” I remember that in the Tom Clancy novels, the character of Jack Ryan becomes president. This film could have been part of the saga starring Harrison Ford, if he had continued it.