Movie Review: White House Down (2013)
Written by Anthony Sargon
Roland Emmerich can never pass up an opportunity to blow up the White House, and he's back with his latest effort, "White House Down". Starring Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum, the movie unfortunately takes itself too seriously and drags on for what feels like forever. It had the potential to be a fun buddy action comedy, but ends up being bloated and dumb.
John Cale (Channing Tatum) really wants to be a part of the President's (Jamie Foxx) personal guard. When he decides to take his daughter to his job interview at the White House (which is an awful idea), shit goes haywire and before you know it, the place is taken over by angry white supremacists with really big guns. When everyone around President Sawyer has either died or betrayed him, it's up to John to get the president out alive, save his daughter, the country, stop a global nuclear war, and find out who's behind all of it. If that sounds like a lot, it is.
Let's get the good stuff out of the way first. Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum have great chemistry as the President and his aspiring bodyguard. They have some funny back-and-forths, and Jamie Foxx gives a really good performance, one that deserves a better movie. One character that provided multiple laughs was a White House tour guide, and he's sadly my favorite character.
That's pretty much the only thing that works in this movie. The dialogue is incredibly cheesy; people will say things you'd never believe anyone in the White House would actually say, and some of the things they do are even dumber (expect many eye-rolls). The movie is easily about 40 minutes too long and has about 3 climaxes, and I remember growing really restless and just wanting the movie to end. There are a lot of good actors in this movie, but they're wasted thanks to crappy dialogue. James Woods, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Richard Clarke (from "Zero Dark Thirty), and Richard Jenkins are all in this, but even their presence does little to make the material work.
The film was just misguided from the start; it would have worked if it had solely focused on the President and John trying to get out alive, but they tried to do too much. Roland Emmerich went over the top, and although the movie features less destruction than his usual fare, he still manages to make it feel bloated (for the record, I love "Independence Day" and "The Day After Tomorrow").
Anthony's Verdict:
Don't feel bad about missing out on this one folks. The movie's loud and dumb, and anytime you feel like you're enjoying it, something incredibly stupid will happen to ruin the experience.
Numerical Score: 5/10
Read the Original post on A Geek's Blog
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