Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/659038
MARCH 30 - APRIL 5, 2016 UCW 17 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 3006 Bragg Blvd. 910.323.1791 www.thetrophyhouseinc.com Hours: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. M-F Who doesn't love to watch Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) throat punch terrorism in the FACE while wrapped in an American flag, drinking American beer and using his American-made gun on his way home to Americatown? Pinko Commie Socialist Long-Haired Hippy Terrorists, that's who. Also, people who don't enjoy xenophobic nonsense, unjustified torture or threadbare plots. London Has Fallen (99 minutes) is a clear improvement on the other Butler film in wide release right now, but not by much. I expect that if I weren't able to find the fun in ridiculous action movies that came straight out of the 1980s straight-to-cable machine I would have skipped it altogether. Luckily, I have high tolerance for one- dimensional action heroes stabbing their way across Europe while singing the "Star Spangled Banner." The film begins. Apparently, America is a shining city on a hill — nevermind. The message isn't that subtle. I'll start over. The film begins. An American Bald Eagle screeches across the screen clutching the dead bodies of the unpatriotic scum who question the prerogatives of the American government. Mike Banning jogs alongside President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) while carving the Pledge of Allegiance onto the cradle he plans to give his pregnant wife (Radha Mitchell) for Christmas. They engage in manly banter about things that real men do, like drink bourbon and kill terrorists. Then they find out that an English VIP died, and every major world leader must attend the funeral. This does not raise any security red flags. The scene shifts to England. We watch various faces flash across the screen, helpfully identified with a label indicating which world leader they are. This goes on for at least ten minutes, interspersed with irrelevant dialogue and stock footage of English landmarks. Then, a lot of stuff and all the people the movie just spent time identifying get blown up. Of course, Mike Banning and the president survived, along with some additional cannon fodder, like Secret Service Director Lynne Jacobs (Angela Basset). Why she was attending the funeral is somewhat of a mystery. And despite being the director of the secret service, she does not handle violence well. Luckily, the sounds of her womanly screaming in every scene that follows distracts everyone from pondering this question. Wow, I'm glad the writers subverted gender expectations and gave her an important job in national security. Sexism is solved! The plot bumbles along for what feels like hours, and eventually Mike Banner runs out of buildings (and terrorists) to blow up. We are supposed to feel good about this. Overall, in addition to all the humor generated by the use of cartoonish levels of violent torture, the writers or directors made the movie even funnier by casting a Tony Danza look-alike as lead terrorist. And I guarantee, once you see the resemblance, you can't unsee it. And it makes every scene with him unintentionally hilarious. Now playing at Patrio 14 + IMAX. Predictable Xenaphobic Nonsense London Has Fallen (Rated R) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200.