A few months back when I first saw the beginning of the trailer for Angel Has Fallen, it really took me a long minute to figure out why this looked so familiar. It’s because it’s the third film based on the 2013 original, Olympus Has Fallen. It’s been three years since its follow up London Has Fallen was released, and I really should have watched them to remind myself about what the heck actually happened. I didn’t though, and I ended up just fine.
The fact that I can’t remember the other two left me feeling a little hesitant to go see this third installment, but I don’t remember disliking them, which is what pushed me to go see it. Clocking in at two hours, it was definitely action packed, with a crazy drone-strike, and some necessary back-stabbing. We start with trusted Secret Security agent, Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), who’s trying to decide between a desk job as the director of the Secret Service, or staying where the action is at. You can clearly tell the job has taken its toll over the years and he wants to do the right thing for his family, but that all changes once an assassination attempt is made on the president (Morgan Freeman).
Suddenly, the FBI is wrongfully pinning this all on Banning, even though they have a bounty of evidence. Getting taken by the ones who framed him, Banning manages to escape, but is on the run from the FBI and his captors, who he soon learns is his old army friend. While hiding out, he finds his father (Nick Nolte) living off the land in the woods. Hands down, Notle offered some of the best scenes in this film, and the fact that he looked like a homeless pirate made it even better!
Banning finally gets to the president to warn him, and that’s when shit really hits the fan! Speaking of swearing, I also want to go back and watch the prior two films mainly because I don’t remember f-bombs being a part of them, but they were definitely a part of this one! Makes it more realistic, I think. Overall, if you’re an action fan and have seen one or both of the prior films, then by all means, go catch this in the theater!