If you love action and adventure, with a taste of wit, then White House Down is for you. An interesting story that helps us wonder what could happen if our government was held hostage by a military group. Would we as people have the strength to save what we know from the evil that tries to break us?
Capitol City Police Officer, John Cale (Channing Tatum) who works security detail for the Speaker of the House Eli Raphelson (Richard Jenkins), is in search of his passion to work for the Secret Service and serve the President. Cale, a US war veteran that served three tours in Afghanistan, has run into a lot of bad luck and cannot get a break. After receiving tickets from a friend to visit the Whitehouse, John works his way in to getting an interview with Secret Service Agent Carol Finnerty (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Carol, an old friend of John’s from college, just doesn’t think he is a good fit for her team. But while at the White House with his daughter Emily (Joey King), John finds himself in the midst of an invasion.
With Chief of White House Secret Service Martin Walker (James Woods) about to retire from the staff, he attempts to guide his team through one last day as their leader. An explosion at the Capitol Building allows for an attack on the White House in an attempt to capture the President of the United States James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx). All personnel are killed except for the tour guide Donnie Donaldson (Nicolas Wright), the tour group, including Emily, and the Chiefs of Staff. Cale frees President Sawyer from the captors and both the men must find a way to evade them, try to free the prisoners, and foil the bad guys’ plans.
Director Roland Emmerich does a remarkable job piecing together this story. With the horrific explosions on our historic buildings to the assault on our government officials, this film gets played out well. He uses great details, from the paintings on the wall to the home furnishings used in each scene, to give the viewer a real feel of the White House. The special effects he uses to show the exploding US Capitol building is realistically performed. The feel of the story flows smoothly without any unbelievable sequences.
This excellent film that includes a great storyline, along with some light comedy, and spectacular action is a must see. With a “Die Hard” type of feel, this story actually gives you the excitement of that type of movie, but without Bruce Willis. Tatum does a fantastic job with his character and gives us the hero of the future.
Additional Information:
- Cast: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, Joey King, and James Woods.
- Director: Roland Emmerich
- Runtime: 131 minutes (2 hours and 11 minutes)
- MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of action and violence including intense gunfire and explosions, some language and a brief sexual image.
- Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
- Release Date: June 28th, 2013
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
