The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
‘Angel’ never rises
Latest ‘Fallen’ flick has a fun serving of Nick Nolte, but it’s mostly a warmed-over, action-heavy dish
In the interest of full disclosure, what would become the “Fallen” film series and I didn’t get off on the right foot. ¶ The studio that was releasing “Olympus Has Fallen,” in March 2013, sent an intimidating letter to those interested in reviewing the action thriller about an attack on the White House and the Secret Service agent — Gerard Butler’s Mike Banning — who would save the day. ¶ By attending an advanced screening, we agreed not to reveal any spoilers — and, to be fair, there is a pretty surprising moment in the first act of the flick, when I normally would feel free to reveal the details of the plot setup — and we even were told there could be legal action if we didn’t play nice. ¶ Hey, how about you just ask nicely? You know, the way Disney does every time they release a “Star Wars” or Marvel film. (Also, “Olympus Has Fallen” was NOT on that level.) ¶ In retrospect, I simply should have passed on reviewing the movie, as I remember at least one critic doing. Nevertheless, I played ball.
While I didn’t detest “Olympus Has Fallen,” I happily skipped its sequel, 2016’s “London Has Fallen.” But, because I was set to review the third entry in the franchise, “Angel Has Fallen,” I put “London” on my television a few days ago while I did a few things around my home and surfed the web on my iPad. I found it to be completely underwhelming — it felt much longer than its 99-minute runtime — but, to be fair, I obviously did not give it a close study. I did have all eyes locked on “Angel Has Fallen” during a recent advanced screening and, well, wished I were doing just about anything else.
It is the kind of generic action thriller that holds no surprises. You pretty much can map out the major plot points well in advance, and it’s easy to spot the traitors from the moment the characters are introduced. Knowing that Nick Nolte is in the cast — and realizing that Mike will have to go on the run — you hope you’re right that Nolte will be playing a possibly crazy, aggressively unkempt man who lives in the woods. That, too, proves to be a correct guess, and Nolte gives the otherwise largely lifeless affair both figurative and literal jolts. He’s a blast in more ways than one, if you get my drift. But let’s back up. Mike becomes a wanted man because — despite having saved the day in both Washington, D.C. and London — he is easily framed for an elaborate, high-tech assassination attempt on the president, Allan Trumbull (a returning Morgan Freeman). On Mike’s trail is FBI Agent Thompson (Jada Pinkett Smith), who’s essentially a watered-down version of Tommy Lee Jones’ Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel
Gerard from 1993’s far superior “The Fugitive.” Also in the cast are Piper Perabo (“Covert Affairs), taking over the role of Mike’s wife, Leah; Lance Reddick (“The Wire”), as Secret Service Director Gentry, who soon will retire and whom Mike is in line to replace; Danny Huston (“Wonder Woman”), as Wade Jennings, an old military buddy of Mike’s who now runs a Blackwaterlike company full of tough guys in need of a war to fight; and Tim Blake Nelson (“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”), as Vice President Kirby, who must step in for an incapacitated Trumbull as the latter did on multiple occasions for then-President Benjamin Asher (a nowhereto-be-seen Aaron Eckhart). This ordeal comes as Mike is not at his best. We see him early on suffering from intense headaches and popping pain pills and then lying to a doctor about what’s going on with him and why he needs more meds. “You’re a disaster waiting to happen,” the doc says after giving his present structure a look. Unfortunately, screenwriters Robert Mark Kamen, Matt Cook and Ric Roman Waugh fail to make that element pay off in much
of a meaningful way as “Angel Has Fallen” hits its action-heavy final stretch. Worse, in the hands of Waugh (“Snitch”), who also directs, that action is, at best, run-of-the-mill — like so much else about “Angel Has Fallen.” Thank heavens for the over-the-top Nolte (“A Walk in the Woods,” “The Ridiculous 6”), who elicits guiltypleasure laughs almost every moment he’s on screen. As the hero, Butler earns another barely passing grade. He has turned his eye-opening performance as Spartan king Leonidas in 2006’s visually impressive “300” into more than a decade of mostly lackluster leading-man roles. Mike continues to feel like Jack Bauer-meets-aSecret Service Agent, but you find yourself wishing you actually were watching “24” star Kiefer Sutherland instead. Unless you’re looking to kill a couple of hours of the dog days of summer with some mindless action or you just can’t get enough Nick Nolte in your life (understandable), pass on “Angel Has Fallen.” I can’t say my experience was all bad, however. At least there was no threat of potential legal action this time.