Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
AshUnow
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
The Movie Diorama
You get yourself a hot young lead actor, a musician turned Oscar winner, a director who essentially ejaculates shoddy visual effects that reek of mediocrity and top it off with a story that feels reminiscent to 'Die Hard'...however feels more like 'Die Soft'. Put them all together and you get White House Down, a film so unnecessary and unfortunate with the timing of its release (the same year as 'Olympus Has Fallen') that you start to question its existence. The White House is under attack, the president and government officials are held hostage as terrorists cause havoc and seek demands. John McClane was busy in Moscow, so they got Channing Tatum instead...honestly, I've already forgotten his character's name. Right, so here's the problem. There are unrealistic films that are fun, and then there are fun films that are unrealistic. This falls into the former category. Why? Well alright, here we go! One scene in particular: the president and a "secret service agent" are driving around the front lawn in an armoured limousine being chased down by three SUVs with machine guns, rocket launchers and assault rifles. The president, and I kid you not, gets a rocket launcher as he peers out of the passenger window and fires it. Seriously? Could you imagine Trump doing that? Sweet lord his hair would be all over the place. To conclude, this film is a visual effects mess weighed down by a "comedic" screenplay that hosts an uninspired plot and derivative action. Foxx and Tatum have good chemistry sure, and Clarke still remains decent (although always chooses poor films). And yes, you could say some parts are enjoyable. But Emmerich is so stuck in the past, that the film immediately feels outdated. It's not 1996 anymore, come on! His excessive patriotism is just too much for me. Don't even get me started on the comedic relief that constantly missed, much like the mercenaries who can't fire their weapons for toffee! Just go watch 'Olympus Has Fallen' instead, as this White House is staying down.
mark73
Don't believe the reviews that say this isn't as good as Olympus has Fallen. It is. But they are both bloody awful. Do yourself a favour and just watch Die Hard again instead of either of these terrible clones.
cinemajesty
The year 2013, three months after "Olympus Has Fallen" had been released, Director Roland Emmerich presents another 100+ Million U.S. Dollars production with "White House Down" after his low-budget-excursion with a surprisingly compelling "Anonymous" in 2011. "White House Down" has not the wit nor the hard-boiled consequence of Antoine Fuqua's "Olympus Has Fallen", nevertheless Emmerich's picture, teaming up once again with cinematographer Anna Foerster, creates some face-paced action scene editorials with slow-motion shot integration, having pushed the stunt coordinating department to the maximum with water falling from sprinkler security systems, splintering wood appliances, sparks flying and hand-to-hand combats.Director Roland Emmerich utilizes simply any weaponry from the property box. Knifes, pistols and rifles are all in to keep the action factor high enough to sit through a two-hour movie, which could have been entertainment of the highest level, if the main characters of President Sawyer and Agent Cale - a getting together match with potential deeply beating actors Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum - would have received an edge of vulnerability and uncertainty in their introducing scenes instead of being unbeatable charming already. But the director falls in his old traps again, which happened frequently as in "10,000 BC" and "2012" produced between 2007 and 2009, where driving characters get reduced to puppets on a special-effects-plate.Director Antoine Fuqua handled the White House attack scenario with half the budget too a much grittier visuals and managed an electrified cast. Roland Emmerich decided to use an all over cleaned-up and polished digital look for his picture, which underlines the idealistic stereo-separated antagonist cast, bringing actors together as match-point up-playing actor James Woods, accompanied by a to an right-hand animalistic mercenary reduced Jason Clarke, who unfortunately have been left alone on set for too long and hardly come out of the comfort zone to act into a full-frontal psyche confrontation against the opposing team-mates Foxx & Tantum, which are split apart most of the time, not only in tension points as well as in a spacious White House sound stage location anyways.The uneven entertainment factor of "White House Down" points mainly to missed opportunities of screenwriter James Vanderbilt to be an active member of the production team, where eventually two or three re-written scenes would have done the trick for the movie to become a box office success and further could have make look director Roland Emmerich look better; does not make "Anonymous" (2011) being a lucky strike of directorial sophistication on acting subtleties.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)
stephen-317
Up against 'Olympus Has Fallen' in a bizarre year that has two films with identical subjects, this film falls foul of the 5.0 threshold rule. Whilst being an enjoyable romp that get's it edging over the IMDb 5 score, it then enters the zone of 'could this film have been better ?'. Humour around 5, love interest around 4 (after some heavy editing), action around 7 but very unconnected. Channing Tatum's film (he produced it as well) deserves a strong 6 but was looking at a 7 if the points all connected.
