‘London Has Fallen’
Three years after saving the president — and us all — from terrorists in “Olympus Has Fallen,” the Secret Service agent played by Gerard Butler is on the world stage in “London Has Fallen.”
The president (Aaron Eckhart, still) and his security detail go to London for the funeral of Britain’s prime minister. It’s a draw for the leaders of the Western world — and for a plot to take them out, along with the British capital. The president’s death is pivotal to the attackers’ plan, so it’s pivotal to Butler’s strategy.
Much of the “Olympus” cast from “Olympus” returns, including Morgan Freeman as the vice president (he was speaker of the house last time), Angela Bassett as Secret Service chief, and Melissa Leo as defense secretary. environment, the possibilities are endless. Or so hopes the first bunny on the police force (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin), who is having trouble fitting in. Her solution: Team up with a con artist of a fox (voiced by Jason Bateman) to solve a mystery and make a name for herself.
Other voices include Idris Elba (a Cape buffalo who’s chief of police), J.K. Simmons (as the mayor, a lion), Octavia Spencer (an otter), and so on.
“Zootopia’s” getting pretty good reviews. Giving it 4 stars (out of 5), Time Out’s Dave Calhoun handed the fast-paced, comic-reference-laden release the ultimate animated-movie compliment: “It feels more like a movie by Disney-owned Pixar than a straight Disney film.” inconsolable mother (Sarah Wayne Callies) learns of an ancient temple where a door — a portal between this world and the next — will allow her to communicate with him one last time.
Provided, that is, she doesn’t open it. So you see where this is going. “The Other Side of the Door” is getting some unkind reviews. Noting the movie was filmed in India but could have been made anywhere, Variety’s Geoff Berkshire called it “a perfect example of a film that squanders a unique setting and possibility for characters rarely seen on screen by focusing on people and plotting we’ve seen too many times before.”
And, until “The Wave,” no Scandinavian disaster movies.
The movie is set in a Norwegian tourist town, snug in a fjord next to a mountain. The beauty is offset some by the danger of the mountain collapsing into the water and triggering a tsunami. On his last day working at the village’s warning center — he’s heading for a better job in the city — a geologist becomes convinced a disaster is imminent.
And it is — leaving villagers 10 minutes to get to high ground.
Since its premiere at last fall’s Toronto International Film Festival, “The Wave” has generated pretty strong reviews. Reviewing for The Hollywood Reporter, Deborah Young called the movie “a thrilling ride as it hits every major genre note with a Norwegian accent.”