For fans of the franchise, it serves as the messy middle child, sandwiched between the superior Olympus Has Fallen and the absolutely absurd Angel Has Fallen (which introduced a helicopter drone battle and a father named “Clay”). If you can stomach its politics, London Has Fallen remains a definitive example of the 2010s action movie: loud, fast, and utterly shameless.
The film was a modest box office success ($205 million worldwide), proving that audiences still craved this brand of jingoistic, hard-R action. However, it was savaged by critics (28% on Rotten Tomatoes). Roger Ebert’s site called it “a cynical, ugly piece of work,” while others labeled it “ Die Hard for the Fox News crowd.”
Here is a look at London Has Fallen as a full movie: its ambitions, its controversies, and its guilty-pleasure legacy. The film opens with a classic action-movie catalyst: the British Prime Minister has died under mysterious circumstances. World leaders, including President Asher, flock to London for the funeral. Unbeknownst to them, a ruthless arms dealer named Aamir Barkawi (Alon Aboutboul) is orchestrating the most elaborate act of revenge in cinematic history.
For fans of the franchise, it serves as the messy middle child, sandwiched between the superior Olympus Has Fallen and the absolutely absurd Angel Has Fallen (which introduced a helicopter drone battle and a father named “Clay”). If you can stomach its politics, London Has Fallen remains a definitive example of the 2010s action movie: loud, fast, and utterly shameless.
The film was a modest box office success ($205 million worldwide), proving that audiences still craved this brand of jingoistic, hard-R action. However, it was savaged by critics (28% on Rotten Tomatoes). Roger Ebert’s site called it “a cynical, ugly piece of work,” while others labeled it “ Die Hard for the Fox News crowd.”
Here is a look at London Has Fallen as a full movie: its ambitions, its controversies, and its guilty-pleasure legacy. The film opens with a classic action-movie catalyst: the British Prime Minister has died under mysterious circumstances. World leaders, including President Asher, flock to London for the funeral. Unbeknownst to them, a ruthless arms dealer named Aamir Barkawi (Alon Aboutboul) is orchestrating the most elaborate act of revenge in cinematic history.