The 2013 blockbuster, Olympus Has Fallen, was not without its charms. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, it had a dark grittiness to it, setting it slightly apart from the standard, cookie cutter action films that essentially take the premise of Die Hard and change the setting and circumstance. Inevitably, it was a box office success, too, which meant a follow-up was immediately discussed. The sequel was already named as London Has Fallen, and now it has a director – in the surprising form of Fredrik Bond.
Bond is an unexpected choice to take this franchise forward, as he is relatively inexperienced behind the camera. He has one feature-length credit to his name – Charlie Countryman – which was not exactly an action-packed movie. However, it is Bond that is in the process of stepping up to this plate, looking to call the shots on a script whose final draft was delivered by Christian Gudegast (A Man Apart), Katrin Benedikt and Creighton Rothenberger (both writers of Olympus Has Fallen).
The stars of the first film – Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman – are returning for the second instalment, the synopsis of which is detailed as follows:
“A U.S Secret Service agent (Butler), the U.S President (Eckhart) and the Speaker of the U.S House of Representatives (Freeman) are attending the funeral of the British Prime Minister, when all hell breaks loose (again).”
Now, don’t get me wrong – I like a big-budget action movie as much as the next person. But, I’m also a Londoner, and something about this quite spectacularly grinds my gears. It seems, from the early summaries of the plot, that what we have here is another movie where America saves the world. I expect the entire plot will hang on the fact that the incoming British Prime Minister is inexperienced and overwhelmed by his or her new position – leading a country in a state of flux following the death of their elected leader – and is therefore more than happy to let the American delegation swoop in and save the day, when London is attacked by terrorists.
Though it seems an “English MI-6 agent” may get a look in on the action (and will probably go down in a hail of gunfire), the implication will almost certainly once again be that every other country – and in particular the UK – is impotent in the face of aggression, and only America can restore safety and order. In other words, London Has Fallen will be an entertaining work of fantastical fiction – and us bumbling Brits can look forward to being rescued on October 2nd, 2015.
