`Angel Has Fallen'
As subtle as the many explosions that propel the predictable plot, the stalwart sequel “Angel Has Fallen” manages to marginally outstrip its pedestrian pedigree thanks to steady supporting players and stirring action sequences.
The follow-up to 2013's “Olympus Has Fallen” and 2016's “London Has Fallen” sees Gerard Butler reprising his role as resourceful Secret Service Agent Mike Banning, who is grappling with the physical fallout from a lifetime spent as a modern-day warrior.
As President Allan Trumbull's (Morgan Freeman) most trusted bodyguard, Mike is the natural successor to retiring Secret Service Director Gentry (Lance Reddick), but before he can accept the job, the president is targeted in a high-tech drone attack that leaves Trumbull in a coma.
With Mike the sole survivor of the president's security detail, dogged FBI Agent Helen Thompson (Jada Pinkett Smith) quickly arrests him for the assassination attempt, and hawkish Vice President Kirby (Tulsa native Tim Blake Nelson) seizes evidence that Mike was colluding with the Russians as cause to ready for war.
Naturally, Mike manages to escape federal custody and goes on the run, determined to clear his name and protect the president. He is ably assisted by his estranged father Clay (Nick Nolte, who steals the show), a Vietnam War veteran who prefers to live off the grid.
The screenplay by Robert Mark Kamen, Matt Cook and director Ric Roman Waugh telegraphs every plot point so that even a schoolchild will know whodunnit — not that any child should see this movie since Waugh leans into the R rating, racking up a stunning body count. With his deep resume as a stuntman, the writer-director also strings together adrenaline-pumping chase sequences, from a nighttime road race that puts Mike behind the wheel of a semi-trailer truck to a cat-and-mouse pursuit through a hospital.
With its hard-charging action, Nolte's grizzled wisecracks and Freeman's presidential warmth, “Angel Has Fallen” rises to the occasion of fleetingly satisfying and ultimately forgettable latesummer fare.