White House Down

This was great! Vanderbilt's script is directed by Emmerich with such gusto and punch that I was bouncing in my seat with excitement. The concept of The Rock and Die Hard is distilled into an ideal mix that isn't afraid to weave in action and healthy exaggeration that is ideally put together. Emmerich loves America, but at the same time, he carries in his heart a piece of a sneering European who knows how to sarcastically poke this idol. The acting is top-notch, especially Tatum dispelling the slight awkwardness, and the white tank top at the end is well deserved. Also, the little girl is the best child element in action since Iron Man 3. In a way, it’s a precise hit in every genre discipline. 4 ½. (04.10.2014)

Democrats have also filmed their action blockbuster after Republicans did so. There is less blood, more conscious 12- bloggers, more peace, right-wing radicals, black presidents who are cool and vulgar, more corrupt arms lobbyists, and a less bipolar worldview (but it does not relate to the domestic political situation). Emmerich continues his world-saving mission started by the eco-agitation film The Day After Tomorrow. However, this soft and politically correct derivative of Die Hard shows that Roland's hand is shaking and the film thus reminds us of a joint afternoon of South Bohemian Mothers and Children of the Earth. Everyone here does what they like, and the result is the sunny confusion, to which Tatum and Foxx give some sort of order. If I have to choose between the swollen milksop Butler or the sleek Tatum... I give up my right to vote. PS: Sorry, in the end I vote for Roland the day after. (16.07.2013)

The hardest job interview ever. Emmerich is a destroyer, but doesn’t let the smaller scale restrict him, in fact he enjoys the destruction even more this way. White House Down is on a par with erm... Olympus Has Fallen, in fact both are more or less equally enjoyable. Butler relies on bloody inevitability, while Tatum relies on hamfistedness and frivolous fun that to entertain the whole family. His loquacious sidekick is the president (entertainingly ham-fisted Foxx) and wears red and white Jordans (he’s got what it takes). Vanderbilt’s screenplay contains lots of refreshing elements, absurd lines and unexpected twists (credit card not working at the end) and it’s not the president, but the main protagonist’s daughter who gets saved. It was good to see the unusually eccentric Jason Clarke. Simply another variation on Die Hard (yep, the hero talks to himself, as well into his walkie-talkie/cellphone and sneers at the baddies’ dead bodies), but this time Emmerich-style. An ideal, relaxing family movie with a happy ending that leaves you with that great feeling that everything ended happily (even though the whole government and a load of other people died). P.S.: Probably the most entertaining tour of the White House and surroundings. (20.08.2013)

It’s a movie by Roland Emmerich, so what else could I have really expected? I mean, yeah, I could have expected something else because he already blew the White House into pieces once in Independence Day. Here, he just looted the president’s quarters, ruined the president’s lawn, his pond and so on. It was nice to see. I was almost wondering if this movie replica was really close to the actual White House. Because if it was really accurate and I was a terrorist, I would have considered this movie an educational tutorial. The movie is sort of a well-done action classic which is something Roland’s simply good at. You can’t deny that and I had a good movie to chill with. (24.08.2014)

Who would have thought that Emmerich’s classic approach to the action movie genre would suit Roland’s “turn on the computers and generate me destruction of world monuments" approach so well? If you took the best from White House Down (that being Butler with Eckhart and R`s uncompromising nature) and got rid of occasional infantility and family escapades, it would be enough for the local John to say “Yippy-ki-yay motherfucker" and it could make a dignified Die Hard sequel. (12.10.2013)