Angel Has Fallen movie review

RATING: R

LENGTH: 2 hours, 1 minute

Movie Review Mom GRADE: C

IN A NUTSHELL:

If you love playing shooting video games, you’ll probably like this movie. If you love this “Fallen” franchise, you might be disappointed. I know I was.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:
• The very first word of the movie is an F-bomb. There are many, many more that follow, as well as other profanity.
• Very high body count. You see a lot of dead bodies with blood.
• Lots of destruction.
• Lots and lots of brutal fighting and violence interspersed with some dialogue.

THEMES:
• Friendship
• Loyalty
• Patriotism

THINGS I LIKED:
• Gerard Butler gives it his all.

Who doesn’t love Morgan Freeman? I liked Aaron Eckhart, who played the President of the United States in the previous two films, but absolutely no one can say Morgan Freeman doesn’t make an awesome president. In fact, Morgan Freeman admitted in a recent interview that he loves playing the president in movies. The first time he played the president was in Deep Impact. I loved that movie.
• I liked Piper Perabo who replaced Radha Mitchell as Gerard Butler’s wife in the past two movies.
• I didn’t recognize Jada Pinkett Smith at first!
If you like almost non-stop violent action, you’ll be entertained. If you’re hoping for a unique plot with character development, move on.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:
• The very first scene looks like a video game. Actually, the entire movie does.
• There is a LOT of pounding drums in every action scene. It drove me absolutely nuts.
• Some special effects looked good, but most others looked totally fake.

Nick Nolte was good but he seems to play this exact same character in every movie nowadays. In Angel Has Fallen, he plays a Vietnam vet, although he never actually got to serve in Vietnam because of a felony charge against him.

• The Fugitive (1993) does this plot soooo much better. Now THAT is a great movie.

Not very much humor.
Weird camera angles.
Extremely predictable.
I really hate shaky cam effects.
Colluding with Russia….”make America great again”….The movie tries to be timely and relevant but just comes across as leftist.

INTERESTING LINES:
• “We’ve become complacent about war in this country.” – President Trumbull (Morgan Freeman)
• “It’s not the same fighting for money as it is fighting for your flag.” – Vice President Kirby (Tim Blake Nelson)
• “Sometimes it’s better to know when to quit instead of lying to yourself and hurting the ones you love.” – Clay Banning (Nick Nolte)

OTHER MOVIES LIKE THIS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:

Olympus Has Fallen