{"id":12378,"date":"2025-07-07T23:42:58","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T03:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=12378"},"modified":"2025-07-07T23:42:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T03:42:58","slug":"angel-has-fallen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2025\/07\/07\/angel-has-fallen\/","title":{"rendered":"Angel Has Fallen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Angel Has Fallen <\/strong>(2019)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lionsgate\/Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 121 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence and language throughout)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Ric Roman Waugh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Robert Mark Kamen, Matt Cook and Ric Roman Waugh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: David Buckley\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Jules O\u2019Loughlin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: August 23, 2019 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Jada Pinkett Smith, Danny Huston, Piper Perabo, Nick Nolte, Lance Reddick, Tim Blake Nelson, Michael Landes, Joseph Millson.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $69M (US)\/$146.7M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0Show me somebody who\u2019s surprised by anything that happens in Angel Has Fallen<\/strong> and I\u2019ll show you somebody who\u2019s never seen a movie or TV show before. This three-quel to Olympus Has Fallen, one of two White House under siege flicks in 2013, is as predictable and by-the-numbers as they come. It\u2019s the kind of movie where certain characters may as well be wearing T-shirts that read \u201cBad Guy Right Here!\u201d There is literally nothing in Angel Has Fallen<\/strong> that we haven\u2019t seen in at least a hundred other action movies. However, I don\u2019t mind that as much as I do the laziness with which it\u2019s executed. Nobody seems to care all that much this time around. For all the fighting, shooting and blowing stuff up, there\u2019s very little energy behind it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0If the first two movies (the second being 2016\u2019s London Has Fallen) are Die Hard and Die Hard with a Vengeance respectively, Angel Has Fallen<\/strong> is The Fugitive by way of A Good Day to Die Hard (I know, that one sucked, right?). Much like John McClane in that last crappy movie, Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Butler, 300) isn\u2019t getting any younger. On top of slowing down, he suffers from migraines, insomnia and an addiction to pain killers. On the upside, he\u2019s just been offered the job of Secret Service Director by President Allan Trumbull (Freeman, The Shawshank Redemption). It seems like the right move after all his years of service in the field. Even his old Army buddy Wade (Huston, Wonder Woman) thinks he should take the job.<\/p>\n

\u00a0While on a fishing trip with Trumbull, a drone attack claims the lives of the entire security detail save for Banning who saves the President\u2019s life. When he comes to in the hospital, Trumbull is in a coma and he\u2019s in handcuffs. FBI agent Helen Thompson (Smith, Girls Trip) informs him that evidence has been found implicating him in the assassination attempt. It\u2019s a frame job, of course, but nobody believes him. While being taken to prison, Banning\u2019s transport is attacked allowing him to escape (after taking out the attackers, of course). He goes on the run determined to prove his innocence. Naturally, it turns out to be part of a larger conspiracy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Like I said earlier, the identity of the villain(s) is obvious from the get-go. The late critic Roger Ebert coined the term Law of Economy of Characters which states that no character in a movie is extraneous or unimportant. If the filmmakers take the time to introduce a character, it generally means he or she will serve some sort of purpose. Now I\u2019m not going to reveal the identity of the bad guys in Angel Has Fallen<\/strong> but I will guide you in figuring it out. Watch the scene where Trumbull meets with his staff in the Oval Office. Only one other character says anything of importance. He\u2019s also the only one played by a recognizable actor. With this in mind, it\u2019s easy to pick out Mr. Villain.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Directed by Ric Roman Waugh (Snitch), Angel Has Fallen<\/strong> is definitely NOT what I\u2019d call a good movie. It\u2019s lazy and perfunctory. It\u2019s contrived and filled with plot holes and unbelievable coincidences like a character showing up someplace he\u2019s never been at just the right time to rescue another character. The subplot about Banning reconnecting with his long-estranged father, paranoid Vietnam vet Clay (Nolte in extra-grizzled mode), feels rather extraneous. Are we really supposed to accept the idea that killing an army of mercenaries is a good father and son bonding experience? Then again, what sense would it make for them to toss a baseball back and forth?<\/p>\n

\u00a0In any event, Angel Has Fallen<\/strong> is a colossally silly action movie that doesn\u2019t even have the decency to admit as much. Its biggest problem is that it isn\u2019t any fun. It takes itself too seriously by trying to be topical. SPOILER ALERT!<\/strong> At one point, the villain publicly (and falsely) accuses the Russians of masterminding the assassination attempt. While it\u2019s no more jingoistic than any given Reagan-era action movie, the movie\u2019s dark tone makes it feel too real. Given the current fragile state of our relationship with Russia, how is this entertainment?<\/p>\n

\u00a0While Angel Has Fallen<\/strong> doesn\u2019t skimp on the action, it goes about it all wrong. The best action scenes have personality. There\u2019s not much on hand in Angel Has Fallen<\/strong>. Its action scenes have a strong been there-done that feel. Not only that, there\u2019s no real momentum. You know something\u2019s gone wrong when a chase involving a stolen 18-wheeler fails to engage. The acting and dialogue aren\u2019t so great either. Banning\u2019s grim, brooding performance feels out of place. Freeman gets off easy, he spends most of the movie in a coma. The rest of the cast…. well, let\u2019s just say they earn their paychecks, nothing more.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Despite its many, MANY shortcomings, I didn\u2019t actually hate Angel Has Fallen<\/strong>. For all its faults, it\u2019s watchable. Actually, it\u2019s the faults that make it watchable. I have to admit I got a kick out of calling every plot twist and turn. I got a few laughs out of the dumb dialogue and story contrivances. I was shaking my head and rolling my eyes a lot. But nothing made me roll my eyes more than the mid-credits scene which has to be seen to be believed. It\u2019s so out of step with the grim precedings, it\u2019s like a splash of cold water in the face after a hot sauna. All I can say, by way of wrapping up, is Angel Has Fallen<\/strong> is entertaining by accident.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Angel Has Fallen (2019)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lionsgate\/Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 121 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence and language throughout)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Ric Roman Waugh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Robert Mark Kamen, Matt Cook and Ric Roman Waugh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: David Buckley\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Jules O\u2019Loughlin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: August 23, 2019 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Jada Pinkett Smith, Danny Huston, Piper Perabo, Nick Nolte, Lance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12446,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kick-ass-actioners","category-sequels-remakes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Angel-Has-Fallen-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12378"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12448,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12378\/revisions\/12448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}