White House Down: Movie Review

White House Down: Movie Review

Cast: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods, Richard Jenkin
Director: Roland Emmerich

He's back in the White House...

Roland Emmerich returns to the destruction of the White House in this second of two films this year, which showcase terrorists taking out the presidential seat (the first being Gerard Butler in Olympus Has Fallen).

Channing Tatum stars as John Cale, a police officer assigned to looking after the speaker of the house (Richard Jenkin). He's a good guy, hoping for a break into the secret service and hoping to impress his estranged daughter in the process too.

But when the president James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx) announces a Middle East peace plan which could see them leaving the area, it sets in motion a terrorist attack on the White House. Soon, Cale and his daughter are the only ones who can save the day as they find themselves in with the President when the attack happens...

Will John Cale be able to beat the bad guys with hardly any weapons and stop the President from being killed, as well as discover who's behind the attack - and re-connect with his daughter?

White House Down is actually a hell of a lot better than you'd be expecting for a film like this.

With a pinch of self-awareness (a tour guide mentions early on that one building is the one destroyed in Independence Day) and a few of the old action movie cliches, it's exactly what you'd expect from the film.

But it somehow manages to work with its self referential humour, silly moments and great chemistry between Tatum and Foxx. When the president tells a terrorist to "Get your hands off my Air Jordans" you know the script's not even taking itself seriously. Equally Tatum, complete with white tank top and glib comments (John McClane anyone?), is on solidly supportive form as the affable guy just trying to catch a break. James Woods gets the role of his life too, as the man whose son was killed in combat and whose life has been destroyed by it.

And yet, with some solid action pieces, replete with OTT explosions and gun fire, Emmerich manages to pull something entertaining together if you're prepared to leave your brain at the door.

White House Down is an entertaining diversion - nothing more, nothing less. And yes, once again, Emmerich manages the total destruction of the White House. Seriously, has he not satiated his vendetta yet?

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