London Has Fallen is the sequel to Olympus Has Fallen. Secret service agent Mike Banning must once again save the President in this action thriller, only this time it takes place in London. The president is going to London to attend the funeral of the Prime Minister. The leaders of the other allies of Britain are also going. As you might expect, it’s all a trap and things go bad fast.
Once again, this movie starts off with a bang and powerful scenes of chaos and destruction. The movie does show the punchy devastation well as several famous landmarks around London get damaged. Also, once again, it is up to Mike to save the day as the other secret service agents get brought down one by one. The other countries are also pushed aside in the plot to focus on Mike and the President.
The action is fun and fast-paced in the film. This time, Mike and the President are together most of the time. Seeing their dynamics as they go on the run through the streets of London is great. The two characters just work together really well and brings a different kind of fun to the movie.
This movie focuses a lot more on the action compared to the first one. We don’t get as much on the characters with probably the most development going to the President. Mike Banning gets a subtle story, but he’s mainly there to be the hero. The bad guys also get less focus compared to the bad guy in the first movie. Their presence doesn’t feel as impactful, though they do get their moments later on in the film. They are also shown as being more sympathetic.
London Has Fallen is a fun sequel to Olympus Has Fallen. It is more action-packed with showing off characters taking a backseat. Seeing Mike Banning in a more active role with protecting the President is great, and the two of them work together well. The intelligence part of the movie, as in figuring out where the bad guys are and how to stop their attacks is mainly relegated to a few scenes, so the action remains the main focus. And the action is solid and satisfying.
Long Has Fallen isn’t trying to do more than it wants to, and it does what it wants well.
Reid Finn 