White House Down... Overlooking the fact it's embarrassing that there are so many similarities between Roland Emmerich's latest film (which I saw earlier today) and last March's Olympus Has Fallen, White House Down still had its moments. Unlike Olympus, White House Down took its time to introduce us to several players in the movie...from Channing Tatum's would-be Secret Service agent John Cale to Jason Clarke's (of Zero Dark Thirty) disgruntled ex-Delta Forces soldier, Emil Stenz. Clearly, Jamie Foxx's portrayal as the leader of the free world, James Sawyer, was inspired by the mannerisms of President Obama, while Martin Walker—the traitorous security chief played by James Woods—actually had a more dramatic backstory than the turncoat played by Dylan McDermott in Olympus. Visual effects-wise, White House Down was superior to the Gerard Butler action flick...which is no surprise considering that Roland Emmerich directed a mega-blockbuster hit (Independence Day) that went on to win the Best Visual FX Oscar for 1996. Action and violence-wise, Olympus Has Fallen seemed much more realistic in the way rogue North Korean soldiers blasted their way into the White House...with Butler showing equal brutality as he saved the president and his son from the insurgents. Of course, Olympus is rated-R while White House Down is PG-13. But either way, here's hoping that we won't get any more movies depicting the destruction of America's most-heavily-guarded house (supposedly) for the foreseeable future. Now it's time for Emmerich to direct something that I really want to see at the cinemas...like 2015's Independence Day 2 (a.k.a. ID Forever Part I, I think).
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