White House Down (2013)

Film:	White House Down
Cast:	Channing Tatum,Jamie Foxx,Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke Joey King,James WoodRichard Jenk Lance Reddick
Director:	Roland Emmerich

What it's about: 

John Cale (Channing Tatum) is a capitol police officer with a dream of making it to the secret service protecting the most important man on the planet- the President of the United States.  An average Joe, he’s also dealing with a divorce situation where his 11-year-old daughter Emily (Joey King) has that indifferent phase going on. A trip to the White House changes everything when anti-American hostile forces take over the Headquarters turning it into a battlefield. Cale who happens to be around decides to jump in and take matters into his hands. Jamie Foxx plays the President while Maggie Gyllenhaal is the Secret Service Supervisor who looks constantly on the edge. Like every other Emmerich film, this one too has its ‘money making’ scenes and the CGI lit White House does look real!

What's good: 

You can’t take what’s happening on screen seriously, so if you watch it with a tub full of popcorn and do a ‘high-five’ each time a new President is sworn in, you are in for a good time! The build up to the actual climax is interesting. Throw in a bunch of goofy characters and some corny lines and you have that perfect no-brainer Sunday afternoon action film. Tatum is a good looking man, dress him up in a suit or have him wear a vest with grenades strapped to his waist, there’s no denying his star power.  There are moments where you can tell he’s doing this for the sheer thrill of being part of a Roland Emmerich adventure. Those Wikipedia fanatics who obsesses over facts and figures will be in for a cheap thrill with a tour guide spilling the beans on some not so publicly known details about the White House (an underground passage that JFK used to sneak Marilyn Monroe in). James Woods in the role of the Service Chief is remarkably brilliant.

What's not: 

We don’t know if Emmerich set out to make a thriller or a slapstick comedy with Tatum and Foxx.  Being black isn’t enough for the latter to play a convincing President. You know the end right from the beginning, the mandatory ode to the American flag, that brooding sense of patriotism veiled under some funny lines, all of this  gives you a sense of déjàvu (because Olympus Has Fallen already blew up the White House early this year). While his earlier works (Independence Day, Godzilla, 2012) dealt with end of the world scenario, here Emmerich constantly uses the White House as a metaphor and symbol for everything that stands in favour of the good. Tatum’s side track with his wife and daughter has no relevance whatsoever in the actual storyline.