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London Has Fallen (2016)
London Has Fallen (2016)
2016 | Action
1
6.1 (22 Ratings)
Movie Rating
A disgusting attempt at film making
Executives down at Millennium Films must have been rubbing their hands together after the surprise success of their 2013 blockbuster, Olympus Has Fallen. After amassing a respectable $160million against a relatively small budget, a sequel was greenlit as soon as it rolled out of cinemas.

Fast-forward three years and its successor, London Has Fallen, starts off a busy Spring for the film industry. With much of the original cast reprising their roles, can lightning strike again? Or is this a shameless cash in?

Gerard Butler returns as secret agent Mike Banning, with Butler also in a producing role, assigned to protect President Benjamin Asher, Aaron Eckhart also reprising his role, in London as the pair attend the funeral of the British Prime Minister. Naturally, things taken a turn for the worse and both President Asher and Banning are caught in a deadly terrorist attack on the city.

The plot is downright ridiculous with Butler looking almost Terminator-like as he dispatches hundreds of vicious terrorists on the streets of London. Even the President gets in on the action, instead of you know, fleeing for safety like the leader of one of the biggest nations on Earth would do.

With the current climate, London Has Fallen is downright woeful, playing on our fears of urban terrorism like no film before it and after the shocking attacks in Paris last year, and for those still haunted by the memories of 7/7, it is in incredibly poor taste.

The dialogue and numerous plot holes only add salt to the wounds. If this was a serious drama, looking at the appalling ripples terrorism has across the world, then the central premise could be forgiven somewhat, but it isn’t and the uses of comedy throughout are truly dreadful, not once hitting the mark.

Elsewhere, the special effects are some of the worst ever put to film. A helicopter escape across London is laughable and the use of grainy stock footage is far too obvious. It’s clear that director Babak Najafi couldn’t film certain scenes on his tiny budget, instead deciding that dated archive footage was a reasonable substitute – it isn’t.

But by far the worst part of London Has Fallen is how it wastes its talented cast. Morgan Freeman, who stars as Vice President Allan Trumble, is leagues above the standard of this atrocity, and somehow manages to provide a sense of class throughout.

The cinematography is awful, especially towards the film’s sickly sweet finale, and many in the unsuspecting audience said it looked like a third-person video game as Gerard Butler somersaults his way around a poorly-lit construction site.

Overall, London Has Fallen is an appalling excuse for a film. As well as wasting a great cast, it continuously wields one of the world’s greatest fears like a child who’s found his dad’s gun, and for me, that is unforgivable. It may cram a lot of things into 99 minutes, but not a single one is done with any passion.

https://moviemetropolis.net/2016/03/06/a-disgusting-attempt-at-film-making-london-has-fallen-review/
  
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Merissa (12069 KP) rated Fallen Flame in Books

Jun 19, 2017  
Fallen Flame
Fallen Flame
J.M. Miller | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Fallen Flame (Fallen Flame, #1) by J.M. Miller
Fallen Flame is the story of Vala, a person the likes of which you've never seen. Her skin is grey and charred; water hurts her; and she can burn people with her touch. Vala knows that she was a foundling, but had as happy an upbringing as she could have. Due to her skin, she was enlisted into the Prince's Guard, and became Lead Guard. However, due to a nights foolishness that didn't have anything to do with her, Vala is lashed and demoted. This starts a whole turn of events that she didn't see happening.

There is a lot that goes on in this book, there is never a dull moment. For a while I was a bit concerned that it might be turning into a love triangle, but luckily for me, there a stop put to that soon enough! All of the characters are intriguing, and there are always reasons for the way they act or speak.

This is an excellent start to the series, with characters and situations that are both humorous yet identifiable. There were no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow, although I was completely engrossed from beginning to end. A must-read for all fantasy fans. Absolutely recommended by me.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
Angel Has Fallen (2019)
Angel Has Fallen (2019)
2019 | Action, Drama, Thriller
The Fallen franchise has always been an enjoyable romp. It hasn’t taken itself too seriously – at least not until this third instalment. Gerard Butler returns as secret service agent Mike Banning, this time shadowing Morgan Freeman‘s President Trumbull who has worked his way up from Speaker of the House (Olympus Has Fallen) to Vice President (London Has Fallen) to his seat in Oval Office.

Banning is a broken-down mess of migraines and pills, currently on the verge of collapse. When the President’s fishing trip is rudely interrupted by a flock (not sure what the terminology is) of high tech exploding drones, Banning is framed for the assassination attempt and must go on the run to clear his name.

It’s a meat and potatoes kind of action flick. You always know where you stand when it comes to the plot and there is nothing complex to make you lose track of what is going on.

The action is over the top and at times executed lazily. With a $40m budget, you would have expected something a little bit slicker. Danny Huston is OK as the not-to-be-trusted old friend who ultimately goes bad, but his performance is easily forgotten.

Unlike the previous two films, there are no lame quips or one-liners (except for a rather humorous mid credits scene). Instead, the writers try and give us something with a little more emotion to it, tugging on the heartstrings when Banning Snr (Nick Nolte) is introduced ‘explosively’ into the fray.
  
Gilmore Girls  - Season 5
Gilmore Girls - Season 5
2004 | Drama
Luke and Lorelai. (0 more)
This season makes me really dislike Emily Gilmore, Christopher Hayden and unfortunately, Rory Gilmore. (0 more)
You got Huntzbergered.
Contains spoilers, click to show
Emily and Richard's hatred for the Luke/Lorelai relationship is overdone, the interference is ridiculous.
Lane and Zach is farfetched, poor Brian must feel very self conscious that Lane hadn't fallen for him too, she just dates band mates!
Stealing a Yacht... 5 seasons building up academically inclined, sensible Rory to essentially a different character completely.