Are you the kind of person who says, “That would never happen” when you’re watching a movie? Well, don’t sit next to me—“White House Down” starring Jamie Foxx as the President of The United States, and Channing Tatum as a wannabe Secret Service agent who’s in the wrong place at the wrong time, is a movie full of “that would never happen” moments from the opening moments, to its long awaited end credits. You either have to get on board and ride it out, or exit the theater and ask for a refund. This is silly, stoopid fun. Also, derivative, uneven and a “junk food” of a movie that hasn’t a single nourishing second.
It’s ‘Die Hard’ meets ’48 Hours.’ Is that an insult or a compliment? Hmm, let’s see. ’48 Hours, which was released in 1982, back when Eddie Murphy was still “Eddie Murphy,” was successful and influential—it created a new template: An “R” rated, bi-racial buddy comedy that combined graphic, bloody shoot ‘em up scenes with moments of hilarity. At the other end of the decade, “Die Hard” in 1988 set up the “lone hero” in a finite space (the fictional Nakatomi Towers buildings) with no way out. Hiding from the bad guys while changing the roles of who is cat and who is mouse.
“White House Down” is a messy mash-up of those two genre pioneers—it’s the unlikely buddies, forced together by circumstance, and it’s the lone good guy (Tatum) crawling through the nooks and crannies of the POTUS’s crib, trying to save his own daughter (the whole reason why she’s there is one of those “that would never happen moments) and the President himself (Foxx, once an Oscar winner, now taking silly roles).
Director Roland Emmerich famously destroyed the nation’s capital before in 1996’s “Independence Day,” and does it again with even better technology this time. The Capitol explodes, thousands are presumably killed, next the White House takes direct hits—death, screams, murder and then? Shticky repartee between Foxx and Tatum. It’s this uneven tone that makes the movie better than “Olympus Has Fallen,” released earlier this year, but nowhere near as entertaining as the aforementioned predecessors.
This is what a mixed reviews looks like. The special effects and easy charm of Tatum counter the neck-spraining shifts in tone, and junky narrative. A car chase that never leaves the North lawn garners appreciative chuckles. Mixed.
Finally, the PG-13 rating is more a statement on how things have changed since 1982 than what the content of this 2013 film is. These days, you can blow up national monuments, shoot humans at both close range and with machine guns and shoulder-mounted surface to air missiles. Just go easy on the swears and you’re in. Oy.
I’m not mad at it, and it is better than “Olympus Has Fallen,” but expect nothing more than mid-range popcorn fare or you’ll be disappointment.