WHITE HOUSE DOWN – The Review

After seeing the TV spots and trailers you may be asking yourself, “Hey didn’t I see this last March?” Not really, it’s just another instance of Hollywood releasing two flicks with a similar theme just months apart. Last year there were dueling Snow Whites: Kristen Stewart in SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN versus Lilly Collins in MIRROR MIRROR (and both had Oscar-winning wicked stepmothers: Charleze Theron in HUNTSMAN and Julia Roberts in MIRROR). Just three months ago Gerard Butler was protecting the Prez (Aaron Eckhart) while battling evil forces taking over DC in OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN. Arriving in theatres this weekend is Channing Tatum protecting his Prez (Jamie Foxx) against an Oval Office siege in WHITE HOUSE DOWN. Besides the cast and rating (FALLEN was R, DOWN is PG-13), there are huge differences in the two closely themed action extravaganzas. But are movie audiences ready to re-visit a burning Capitol dome so soon?

Lets go ahead and set the scene for this June battle on the beltway! It’s just past dawn as the helicopter envoy carrying President Sawyer (Foxx) and his security detail headed by Agent Finnerty (Maggie Gyllenhaal) touches down on the White House lawn. Sawyer has got a tough day ahead of him as he tries to push a controversial Mid-East peace plan through a stubborn Congress. A few blocks away Capitol policeman John Cale is part of the detail assigned to protect dull career politician, now Speaker of the House, Senator Raphelson (Richard Jenkins). But John has dreams of being on the president’s team and he’s scored an interview with Finnerty later that day. As his shift ends John goes to his ex-wife’s home to pick up his pre-teen daughter Emily (Joey King), who’s angry at Dad for missing the school talent show. It seems that Emily’s a political geek, so maybe she’ll ease up on Pop if he takes her along to the big interview at the White House. Seems like a normal day there. There’s a big cake to celebrate the retirement of long-time security head Walker (James Woods) and some technicians are installing a new sound system in the presidential screening room. Cale’s interview does not go well. Trying to hide his disappointment he and Emily hastily join up with a group of tourists just starting  a tour of the White House. Then things happen. Very bad things. That go down loudly. Father and daughter are separated as hostiles lay siege to the building. And the overwhelmed Cale is the only person who can save President Sawyer and prevent the end of, well, everything!

This is the first time we’ve gotten to see Tatum in full “John McClane” reluctant action hero mode (he’s done the “rom-coms”, the dance moves; a silly TV-show based flick, along with the big CGI-based-on-a-toy-line, so it’s time a for a down-n’-dirty shoot-’em-up). He’s determined, but has many moments of near-outright panic of as a little-better-than-average joe that’s in way over his head. Tatum also let’s us see the gears in his brain turning as his head whips about and tries to spot any possible weapons and escape routes. We  also get to see his tender side early on as he tries to connect with his not-so-little girl. Foxx is basically doing a riff on our current commander-in-chief. He’s in awe of the office (he asks that his copters give him a better view of DC before they land), but is also frustrated as he must constantly pitch his peace plan to different members of Congress. Happily we get a taste of Foxx, the fast-talking comic as he teams with Tatum. A sequence of him raiding the clothes closet is quite the crowd-pleaser. And unlike Eckhart, this Prez gets in on the action. King is quite good as the standard-movie petulant pre-teen (“Whatever, John”) who’s reduced to being a pawn during the final conflicts. After a strong early scene when she shoots down Tatum’s application, Gyllenhaal has little to do besides giving phone instructions and looking worried while pacing the control room. The casting of Woods and his early actions give away too much about his character’s motivations. Still it’s another of his great over-the-top “wild card’ roles. The memorable interrogator from last year’s ZERO DARK THIRTY, Jason Clarke, does what he can with the standard action flick role of the main leader of the heavily armed gang (who just has to go one on one with the hero before the end!). Jenkins earns some chuckles as the stiff career politco who’s the exact opposite of the ultra-cool Prez. Kudos to Jimmi Simpson as the snarky tech-terrorist and Nicolas Wright as the scared, but angry (“Not another priceless antique!”) tour guide.

So what really sets this flick apart from last March’s OLYMPUS? Oddly it’s…humor, almost to the point of self-parody (or could this be a self-aware action flick?). While the former flick assigned a nationality to their villains (evil North Koreans, perhaps left behind from the recent RED DAWN remake), here we get a generic gang of muscle-bound uzi-toting goons who might have been assembled to take on Sly, Arnold, or any of THE EXPENDABLES two or three decades ago (including a hulking near-albino), so there’s no jingoistic vibe present. There’s even a bit of political satire as a gas-bag right-wing style cable TV host is taken hostage and one of the crazier thugs (named Killick, natch’!) professes his admiration (“look what my rhetoric helped create!” thinks the pundit!). This is surprising coming from disaster flick maven Roland Emmerich (2012), but he even has a bit of fun with his biggest film as the tour guide mentions the “money shot” from INDEPENDENCE DAY! This tone may put off hardcore action fans (I saw a spirited debate out in the parking lot after the screening), but the irreverence is a bit refreshing. And destruction king Emmerich keeps the “blown-up stuff” to a reasonable level, almost like a picnic in the park compared to the endless leveling of Metropolis in another Summer flick. Of course he succumbs to several recent action flick cliches’. The evil plan is way too convoluted with triple and quadruple crosses (so this happened cause’ he knew this would happen..uh uh). Plus the original take-over piles up the corpses (but there’s no constant barrage of bloody exploding heads ala’ OLYMPUS). And it’s not enough that the world may end in order to inspire Tatum, his daughter’s got to be in constant danger for the last hour of the flick (was very tired of seeing her being dragged along like a rag doll). But Tatum and Foxx make for a fairly great team (almost a “bro-mance”) and the flick knows that it’s pretty ridiculous, so I’d recommend WHITE HOUSE DOWN for giving us more than just bangs (and explosions, fires, and fights) for our hard-earned movie bucks.

3.5 Out of 5