Gerard Butler still having a blast saving the free world

He is looking a bit ragged but Mike Banning is still running rings around his adversaries when it comes to protecting Hollywood’s most assassination prone President of the United States

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ANGEL HAS FALLEN

Two and a half stars

Director: Ric Roman Waugh

Starring: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Jada Pinkett Smith

Rating MA15 +

Running time: 121 minutes

Verdict: Democracy doesn’t stand a chance without Mike Banning

Having saved the President of the United States from two previous assassination attempts, Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is looking a bit rough around the edges. But even taking into account the compressed vertebrae, debilitating migraines and what appears to be a raging OxyContin addiction, the hard-charging Secret Service agent can still run rings around both his allies and his adversaries.

And so, when a well-co-ordinated drone attack decimates the POTUS’s heavily armed security detail, Banning’s razor-sharp reflexes once again save the leader of the free world from … well, let’s just say that in the latest instalment in the Fallen franchise, the bad guys are a little closer to home.

Gerard Butler in a scene from Angel Has Fallen.

Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman), who was Speaker of the House in the original film and VP in the sequel, has been promoted to President in Angel Has Fallen.

Given their long association, Trumbull has a warm, close and mutually respectful relationship with Banning, who at this point, is pretty much an Oval Office institution. (He had a similarly matey relationship with Trumbull’s predecessor, played by Aaron Eckhart).

A man of deep integrity, Trumbull is a West Wing kind of president; the sort you wish you had. But after being pulled unconscious from the freezing lake into which he and Banning dive to evade the drone attack, he remains in a coma. On the basis of damning evidence that links Banning to what appears to be a Russian government-funded assassination attempt, Trumbull’s hawkish Vice-President (Tim Blake Nelson) gears up for WWIII. Banning’s colleagues also swallow the frame-up story hook, line and sinker.

Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman in Angel Has Fallen.

Let’s hope nothing happens to this seasoned operative — presidents might come and go, but without Banning at their side, democracy doesn’t stand a chance. With the US law enforcement authorities in hot pursuit, Banning sets off across the country – to simultaneously clear his name and arrest Armageddon.

The action is fast, furious and without unnecessary frills. The firepower is impressive and the multiple explosions would light even director Michael Bay’s (Armageddon, Transformers) fuse. There’s also an attention-grabbing sequence, in remote forest in Virginia, in which Bannon is reunited with the father who abandoned him — a crusty old war vet with a yellowed moustache who lives off the grid and is played by Nick Nolte.

Taking over the role of Banning’s wife, Leah, from Radha Mitchell is Piper Perabo.

Jada Pinkett Smith sells her part, as a hard-ass FBI agent. But Danny Huston has played his role so many times, you know where the character is headed the moment he turns up.

A competent action adventure with uncomplicated morals.

Angel Has Fallen is now showing

Originally published as Gerard Butler still having a blast saving the free world