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"Olympus Has Fallen," but it can get up, barely

“Olympus Has Fallen” ain’t great, but it’s a better “Die Hard” retread than“A Good Day to Die Hard.” Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman.

This film image released by FilmDistrict shows, from left, Aaron Eckhart, Gerard Butler, Finley Jacobsen, Angela Bassett and Robert Forster in a scene from "Olympus Has Fallen." (AP Photo/FilmDistrict, Phil Caruso)
This film image released by FilmDistrict shows, from left, Aaron Eckhart, Gerard Butler, Finley Jacobsen, Angela Bassett and Robert Forster in a scene from "Olympus Has Fallen." (AP Photo/FilmDistrict, Phil Caruso)Read more
    by GARY THOMPSON
    Published 

NORTH Korean terrorists capture the White House and the president in "Olympus Has Fallen," and I call B.S.

I don't mean solely because Hollywood keeps pretending that the North Koreans (i.e. "Red Dawn,") are an imminent invasion threat. I mean it's B.S. that the president is played by Aaron Eckhart.

What kind of fake America elects Aaron Eckhart president, while Morgan Freeman languishes as Speaker of the House?

I can only surmise that Eckhart is president because a North Korean terrorist incursion is pretty low on the movie DEFCON scale. If this had been an actual emergency, such as an extinction-level asteroid, then, yes, Freeman would be named president immediately, as he was in "Deep Impact."

Anyway, demoting Freeman to speaker is a mistake that "Olympus" soon rectifies. The terrorists haul the president, V.P. and other Cabinet officers into a fortified White House bunker, where they demand access codes for ICBMs.

The V.P. is out of action, so Speaker Morgan takes over, and joins Angela Bassett and Robert Forster in the situation room, which is funny, because the situation is they don't have anything to do.

Except chat via phone with Gerard Butler, playing a former Secret Service agent and special-forces commando who's inside the White House, killing bad guys. (The movie's been called " 'Die Hard' in the White House," but it's really more like " 'Under Siege' in the White House.")

"Olympus Has Fallen" does not establish new standards for plausibility. The Koreans arrive in a C-130 gunship, and I waited in vain for someone to explain where the airplane came from. The movie has a bit of an Asian paranoia problem, and its jingoism is startling - Oscar-winner Melissa Leo recites the pledge of allegiance as terrorists drag her along the White House floor.

The movie is laughable - it's five times funnier than "Admission" - especially its cheesy use of D.C. iconography. A plane's wing takes out the Washington Monument, and it topples on tourists (shades of "Mars Attacks"). And where else can you see King Leonidas in the Oval Office, killing a terrorist by smashing him over the head with the bust of Abraham Lincoln? (Or was it Daniel Day-Lewis? I can't tell anymore).

Antoine Fuqua is a fine director of action; there's plenty of that, and Ashley Judd gets a few minutes as first lady. Only a few minutes, because she goes for a limo ride on a snowy road, and well, Dario Franchitti is not driving.