REVIEW: WHITE HOUSE DOWN

Hollywood's yearly summer movies has reached halfway through the season and another blockbuster is feast for cinema audience worldwide. What more better way to add spice to the already hot summer movie line-up than having a film directed by one of the heavy-weights of summer blockbuster films, Mr. Roland Emmerich. I managed to see his latest film thanks to KLIPS Malaysia's invitation to a media screening.

Roland Emmerich has a string of box-office hits to his credentials such as Universal Soldier (1992), Stargate (1994), Independence Day (1996), Godzilla (1998), The Patriot (2000), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), 2012 (2009), and many more. Among his films, he has been known to have the White House (the official residence of the United States president) destroyed as part of the movie's plot (i.e. Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012). This time around, the White House features prominently in his latest film White House Down.

White House Down is directed by Emmerich and starts Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, and James Woods. The film is written by James Vanderbilt (The Amazing Spider-man).

SYNOPSIS:
Capitol Police Officer John Cale (Tatum) takes his daughter Emily along to the White House is escort him for an interview with the United States Secret Service. Unknown to them, a paramilitary group is plotting to take over the White House and hold its residence hostage. By using his skills in the task force, he battles the terrorist with the help of U.S. President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx) while trying to rescue his daugther at the same time.



Maggie Gyllenhaal in a scene from White House Down

SCRIPT:
The premise of the script is original and indeed refreshing. On the surface, the film does have the same premise as movies such as Air Force One (1997) with Harrison Ford. The dialogue was not too complicated, however, there were too many subplots along the way. I liked how there were small little twists to keep the suspense going. Some slight injection of comedy worked well but were not consistent.

John Cale (Channing Tatum), Emily Cale (Joey King),
and U.S. President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx)

ACTING:
For an ensemble casts, everyone did well. I am a fan of Jamie Foxx and was delighted that he portrayed his character well, although I was hoping to see more of him. Kudos to the actress who played Emily Cale (Joey King) that stole most of the film.

John Cale (Tatum) and President Sawyer (Foxx) looking out for terror group.

FILMING:
This film has the trademark of director Emmerich's big explosions and epic shots. However, having done movies which is set on a global scale instead of within a city, his creativity was slightly limited. The visual effects were minimal and just okay.

Channing Tatum and director Roland Emmerich at work.

PACING:
It starts of very slow, trying very hard to explain a lot of details. It gets exciting in the middle but slowly pulls back into the draggy feeling. The climax ending was pretty okay.

TONE (MOOD):
High-octane action film with lots of explosions and gunshots mixed with a 'how-to-solve-the-problem' plot.

Cale (Tatum) and President Sawyer (Foxx) under seige.

DOWNSIDE:
An action-thriller film that doesn't feel action enough although the action scenes were reasonably well filmed. Draggy a little bit.

UPSIDE:
An original story that is fresh in its concept.

OVERALL:
A good action film, with some plot twists and comedy, which sometimes work and sometimes doesn't. Good popcorn film.

RATING:
7 out of 10