ANGEL HAS FALLEN – Review

As the start of school snatches away a good chunk of the moviegoers, the Summer blockbuster annual carnival is rolling up their cinema canvas midway. The superheroes have sent their spandex to the dry cleaners, that really, really “fast and furious” duo have put their super-charged vehicles in storage, and those raunchy R-rated comedies are circling the Red Boxes (last weekend ya’ dun’ GOOD, BOYS). Ah, but one guy’s not ready to leave the multiplex and make room for the award contenders. Why, it’s that growling, “movie macho” triple-alpha male Gerard Butler in his own “franchise” role (300 did spawn a sequel, but he…well). Or perhaps this is more of a trilogy (or “hat-trick” or triple play for you sports geeks). Let’s follow the “domino” line of the series. In 2013 OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, three years later LONDON HAS FALLEN, and now ANGEL HAS FALLEN (“…and they can’t get up”…well with GB on the job…).

This new installment begins with “super” Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Butler) in full tactical gear going through a “battle” exercise put together by his old combat buddy Wade Jennings (Danny Huston). Mike’s as sharp as ever, but he’s now prone to headaches, dizziness, and quick “blackouts”. When all alone he’s gulping down the meds he’s getting from the doctors that he’s conning (“All these injuries from an auto accident while selling computers?”). And he’s also not being truthful with his wife Leah (Piper Perabo). Oh, since his dust-up “across the pond”, Mike’s married and started a family with Leah (they’ve got an adorable curly-haired one-year-old girl). Perhaps his ailments will lesson by taking a rumored promotion by President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman whose character from the previous films is now in the Oval Office). But does Mike really want to be the head of the Secret Service? But before he can decide, the President’s fishing getaway is attacked by an unknown entity with access to some deadly high tech weapons (the ones that outgunned Spidey a couple of months ago). When the smoke clears, all the evidence points to Mike. Soon he’s on the run, pursued by a determined FBI investigator, Agent Thompson (Jada Pinkett Smith) and his only chance at justice may be a shadowy figure from his distant past (Nick Nolte). Can Mike clear his name while tracking down the real attackers and preventing more carnage-filled chaos?

Really, are you truly pondering that last question? Once again Butler embodies the completely competent and resourceful man of action. This time out we get to see a glimpse beneath the tough outer armor. Butler shows us how Mike’s body has finally “had enough” and the “chickens (injury trauma) are coming home to roost” in his scrambled almost dented “noggin”. Plus he’s got a light sense of humor, thanks to the easy rapport with the always delightful Ms. Perabo as his life and verbal “sparring” partner. Their “leaving for work’ sequences add much-needed humanity to the Banning “action cyborg”. It’s a shame that Perabo’s Leah is reduced to being the worried wifey’ at home, flanked by the press vultures (and some more deadly intruders), and, that now action flick cliche” the “spouse on the phone”. The marketers are more than a bit deceitful by giving Freeman co-starring billing with Butler. His Trumbull, though essential to the story, is “sidelined” for most the flick, then regulated to being the fragile item that is to be safely hidden. Happily, the film’s last act allows Freeman to indulge in his smooth, laid-back line delivery. Most of the flick’s second act is stolen by Nolte’s paranoid curmudgeon in the woods, whose barking reflects a lifetime of regret. Good seeing him on screen again, though this role recalled much of his work in Ang Lee’s HULK. Huston’s effective as the reglar’ fella’ billionaire whos infectious smile is more of a mask. The same could be said of the horn-rimmed glasses worn by Tim Blake Nelson, who uses them to effect as a “mild-mannered” VP. tossed into the “big chair”, but seems to really like the feel of it. Pickett-Smith has a terrific interrogation showdown with Butler, but for most of the action, she’s too many steps behind, and staring at monitors in frustration (just like Joan Allen in the Bourne flicks). And right from the hotel desk in the John Wick series, Lance Reddick gets to bark orders and consult the Prez as the current Secret Service head honcho.

Former stuntman turned director Ric Roman Waugh keeps the action sequences moving along, knowing when the story needs the extra jolt of gunplay, explosions, and careening, flipping autos (and there are enough to fill many junkyards). Unfortunately, the script and dialogue (credited to five writers) is so clunky and trite that it distracts from the chases and escapes (one villain actually quotes the signature expression of a cartoon icon, with not an ounce of irony). The mystery of the attackers is obvious early on ( that some garbled-voice nonsense seemed tired a few weeks ago with Hobbs & Shaw), and the final showdown is both ludicrous and lethargic (so much dust and smoke). This is still an improvement over the last couple of films for the aforementioned humor and the lightened brutality (I recall someone saying of OLYMPUS that there were more “headshots” than the walls of a talent agent’s office), but with as many “F-bombs” as bullets. This should please fans of the first flicks. As for those of us that can’t “check our brains at the ticket booth”, it’s a welcome goodbye to Banning (the title “A”, though when I first heard of the movie, I thought it was for Los Angeles) with ANGEL HAS FALLEN.

1.5 Out of 4