Two-Word Review: White House Down

Here are your two words:

Entertainment Capitol

“White House Down” is about the White House being taken over by terrorists at the same time our unwitting hero and his daughter are touring the building. Think “Die Hard” in the White House. Think that a lot.

If you are able to set aside the need for plausibility, you will enjoy “White House Down”. Otherwise, you will grouse “That would never happen,” so often that your date and other movie-goers around you may request your removal from the theater.
That being said, I complained all the way home that “That would never happen,” while following the same statement with “but it was a fun movie.”

White House Down is everything you expect from a feel-good summer action flick.
Stuff blows up.
There’s witty repartee.
There are strong characters that you want to cheer for.
And there’s the Brendon Frasier/Ashton Kutcher hybrid named Channing Tate-yum.

While Mr. Tate-yum manages to strip down to his white tank top, he unfortunately never removes it. In fact, he almost immediately puts accessories over top of it. Phooey.

But I digress…

This movie is guilty of one of my movie pet peeves: Hero’s Luck
This is when the bad element’s danger level, while shown to be deadly accurate at the beginning of a movie, varies depending on each movie character’s value.
You’ve seen this. Extras (which are equal to zero value) are picked off left and right with barely any effort by bullets or zombies or blobs or viruses. However, our hero (value equals infinity) will miraculously manage to escape harm, most likely injured but alive, and be able to eventually fight back.
Everyone else, poof, dead.
I detest this almost as much as I dislike time travel in movies.
Also, the bad guys talk too long before they pull the trigger and miss their opportunity to eliminate the protagonist more than once… or twice… possibly more than three times, I lost count.
As White House Down’s plot is so predictable, I am spoiling nothing by pointing this out to you.

As a big screen movie, White House Down is spectacular! Stuff happens to the White House that you’ve never seen before, and when it happens, you’ll wanna see it big.

Despite my criticism, I enjoyed this movie. It WAS fun. It WAS exciting. It was a good summer action flick. Expect no more than that, and you will be pleased.

P.S. I wonder how much Nike paid for its sweeeeeeet product placement.