Fuse Film Review: “London Has Fallen” — Jingoism “R” Us

There is a target market for the mayhem: if your desire is to see London’s most recognizable landmarks blown off the face of this earth, then this is the film for you.

A scene of carnage from "London Has Fallen."

A scene of carnage from “London Has Fallen.”

By Paul Dervis

Remind me again — why did I want to see London Has Fallen?

Oh, yes, the plot.

The gimmick in this film is one that has gnawed at me for decades. In fact, well before 9/11 I had wondered about state funerals and how the governments are able to protect so many world leaders in such a confined space. One can also question that issue when it comes to the United Nations, but at least at the U.N. there is time for planning. There’s not much preparation possible when it comes to a funeral setting.

So the premise of this film is definitely intriguing.

However, the product is not.

The filmmakers might just as well have thrown Sylvester Stallone on the screen in his Rambo get up. And if you count corpses (and become fatigued/disgusted over 10 or so) you will walk out after the first half hour. Bodies drop like snowflakes. And don’t take the alleged patriotic spirit of this film seriously. Canadian, German, Italian leaders, to mention but a few, are terminated with absolutely no fanfare or regret. But the American President, now that’s a different story. It is any wonder why civilizations around the globe roll their collective eyes at our self-centeredness?

There is a target market for all the mayhem: if your desire is to see London’s most recognizable landmarks blown off the face of this earth, then this is the film for you. For American audiences, this might be a tough sell, given that viewing the collapse of New York’s Twin Towers is seared in our memories.

Gerard Butler (didn’t he at one time make pretty good movies?) reprises his role of Mike Banning from Olympus has Fallen. He is the President’s top Secret Service agent. Aaron Eckhart plays President Benjamin Asher. (He used to make good films — he was amazing in Jason Reitman’s Thank You for Smoking). The Prime Minister of Great Britain has unexpectedly died of an apparent heart attack; Asher’s advisors discourage him from attending, but he knows he must go. At first, everything moves along smoothly; but then all hell breaks loose. Half of the police protecting the dignitaries turn out to be terrorists; even the guards at Buckingham Palace have been infiltrated! How all of this undercutting of law enforcement is pulled off without a peep coming from anybody is never explained. I guess we are simply suppose to suspend our disbelief.

After the mountains of blood and gore, we are left with an America that doesn’t fail….and bad guys (from Yemen) whose back stories are trite and predicable. In the world of London has Fallen, life has no layers, no complexities. There is a mole in Scotland Yard. The filmmakers are betting that that answers all of our questions.

As an aside, you get to hear both the President and his Secret Service man drop F-bombs with alarming regularity. This might be seen as the first film inspired by the potential presidency of Donald Trump.

Babak Najafi is credited as the director, with a screenplay by Creighton Rothenberger (who needed the help of seven others), but real credit (or blame) should go to the special effects crew. The film appears to be made solely for their spectacular visuals.

To cap all the nastiness off, the final scene of London has Fallen is dedicated to revenge. It is rah-rah stuff calculated to get audience members out of their seats and cheering. It plays to the basest emotions in our collective hearts. I am pleased to say it didn’t work at the screening I went to.

London has Fallen should have been a real world cautionary tale. Instead, it was another mindless shoot-’em-up flick, shot through with dastardly jingoism.


Paul Dervis has been teaching drama in Canada at Algonquin College as well as the theatre conservatory Ottawa School of Speech & Drama for the past 15 years. Previously he ran theatre companies in Boston, New York, and Montreal. He has directed over 150 stage productions, receiving two dozen awards for his work. Paul has also directed six films, the most recent being 2011’s The Righteous Tithe.

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