"Illusory and absurd, in the very best way possible..."

Having launched an explosive attack on the White House in Independence Day, it would seem that director Roland Emmerich still has a score to the settle with the poor building, coming back for seconds in his immensely entertaining action thriller White House Down.

When applying for a job at the Secret Service, former soldier John Cale (Channing Tatum) takes his politically minded daughter Emily (Joey King) on a tour of The White House with him. However disaster strikes, when a group of renegade, paramilitary invaders attack the building, hoping to catch President Sawyer (Jamie Foxx) and have him pay the price for his recent political actions. Losing contact with his daughter, Cale finds the President and it becomes his duty to ensure he finds safety, as the country's fate lies in his very hands.

 

 

With a premise almost identical to that of Olympus Has Fallen, which was released earlier this year, Emmerich does a fine job in ensuring that although this is territory has already stepped on in recent months, it feels unique in its own right, playing out like a homage to the Die Hard franchise, rather than a mere carbon copy. When comparing to Olympus Has Fallen, this certainly has more depth to it (and a stronger cast – with the likes of Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods and Richard Jenkins all starring), as there's an attempt to provide some political context, tying in with real, contemporary matters related to the war on terror, and the potential repercussions of recalling the troops from the Middle East. Also, by casting Foxx as president, it gives writer James Vanderbilt the opportunity to explore the reaction to having an African American as president, as some of the antagonists are white, fascist extremists, giving the film a pertinency as these are issues that, regrettably, do exist.

It's also a brave move by making our villains American – not just falling for a lazy, conventional archetype, whereby the bad guys are Koreans or Germans, for example. It also provides a brief yet satirical sub--plot, whereby the media assume the terrorists are Arabs – making for a poignant reminder of the racial profiling and stereotyping that goes on. The way we are introduced to all of the key players early on is effective too, as each important role is given a brief yet succinct and substantial back story, so that by the time they come into prominence later on, we already know what to expect of them.

Anyway, now the serious points have been made – where this film really excels in within its no holds barred, riotous entertainment – with Foxx and Tatum riffing off one another to great comedic effect. There are several, contrived one liners that don't quite work, but on the whole, Emmerich has you gripped from start to finish, in a film that's completely illusory and absurd, in the very best way possible.