London Has Fallen review- a critique by IGN

Full-text transcript of the review:

[00:00:08] For fans of Antoine Fuqua is twenty 2013 action film, Olympus Has Fallen, London Has Fallen offers the same mindless thrills and in true sequel fashion, the stakes have never been higher. In this new film, the British prime minister has just passed away and his funeral is a must attend event for all the world leaders. But as you probably guessed, they’re walking into a trap laid by a vengeful arms dealer who wants them all dead. Unfortunately for that guy, the president of the United States brought Mike Banning with him, and they don’t plan on going down without a fight. If that person sounds familiar to you, that’s because it’s almost the exact same setup as the first movie, starting with another intricate terrorist attack. Weirdly, though, there’s almost no reference to the events of the first film whatsoever. ASHers dead wife Banning’s heroics, the ones decimated White House. For all intents and purposes, none of those things ever happened. Basically, London has fallen hits the reset button on all the characters from their banning fights his way through hordes of enemies, much in the same way he did three years ago. Meanwhile, Morgan Freeman’s Trumbo is back in The Situation Room to guide banning and face time the bad guys, albeit not as much as last time. Still, the actor has a knack for making exposition sound way cooler than it actually is, and it’s nice to have him back for the few scenes he’s in.

[00:01:10] Honestly, apart from the new setting, the biggest difference here is Eckert’s president tags along with banning for most of the movie. Instead of trying to save the president from a hostage situation, though surprise, there’s another one of those two. Banning is tasked with safely escorting him out of the country before he’s assassinated. As a result, Ebtekar plays a much more central role in this sequel and even gets in on some of the action. Same goes for Angela Bassett, Secret Service director, who also ends up joining them. Of course, the main draw here is Butler, and he seems right at home playing Vanning again, for better or for worse. As with the first film, Banning’s antics are ridiculous and single minded, but that’s part of what makes them fun. And while the villains are one dimensional as ever, the close quarters combat is bone crunching, satisfying if a little money in spots. That said, the visual effects are notably improved this time out, London has fallen may not be better than Olympus has fallen, but it certainly is bigger and it will probably satisfy most action junkies, if not in a theater, than in the comfort of their own home. It’s a shame director Babak Najafi decided to go with more of the same old, same old. But few Quast characters are still enjoyable in the standalone outing. For more movie reviews, keep it on Igan. Let him get next extra. Copy that hold. Now.