Complete A-Z list


London Has Fallen

3/10

Stars: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Radha Mitchell, Waleed Zuaiter, Robert Forster, Jackie Earle Haley, Alon Aboutboul, Patrick Kennedy, Colin Salmon, Angela Bassett

Director: Babak Najafi

Monumentally silly, but - predictably - not unentertaining action thriller, a follow-up to the rather better Olympus Has Fallen.

In revenge for a US strike blunder that killed his relatives, a far east master-terrorist (Aboutboul) has spent years planning his vengeance. When the British PM dies (turns out later he was poisoned), heads of government converge on London for the funeral, at which point the terrorist strikes, blowing up Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral and sundry other landmarks with an army of men disguised as police officers, paramedics, SAS men and firefighters (well, we said it was silly).

The subsequent carnage leaves five world leaders dead, and the US president (Eckhart) on the run. 'It was a trap,' declares his aide (Bassett) with sublime perception, just before their helicopter is shot down, and the prez and his chief bodyguard Mike Banning (Butler) flee across fields.

Acting is definitely not required here, but there's action galore, lots of (sometimes dodgy) CGI-crafted effects as London falls, and even one or two intentional laughs.

David Quinlan

USA/Bulgaria/Romania/UK 2015. UK Distributor: LioinsGate. Colour.
94 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 0, Swearing 3.

Review date: 09 Jul 2016

DVD review