Olympus Has Fallen

Olympus Has Fallen tells the story of a direct assault on the White House and how a disgraced exSecret Service agent rushes in to save the day.

It was unpredictable in the sense that no one has dared to present a story about the White House being taken over completely before. While other movies have shown the White House being vulnerable to some extent, the magnitude of the takeover was incredible and somewhat hard to believe, considering the pains America takes to protect its national security yet we've seen its vulnerability in 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombing.

In the days following 9/11, Hollywood made a conscious effort to limit images that would spark memories of or fan terrorism. I was surprised that this movie does the opposite and more. It showed monuments being destroyed in an aerial raid and civilians and government enforcers dying as a result and foreigners, this time Asians, as responsible for the attacks.

I am amazed at how they managed to film the movie. Was a life size replica of the White House made for the exterior shots? The detail in the interior shots was also incredible.

It was hard to believe that one man, who just happened to be in the right place at the right time, can reverse what terrorists have long planned. Even if the actor playing him is Gerald Butler, it was hard to believe that a Secret Service agent off the field for 18 months could do all that and have access to the White House. I assume the White House changes its passwords, access codes all the time. But I guess we just have to leave it up to Hollywood and its concept of Action Heroes.

It was entertaining because the concept was new but it was also disturbing because of the violence, especially in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing.