***Spoilers Ahead***
The beginning of the film is quite slow moving as we are learning about the characters and what the storyline is. We are introduced to Tatum's character, an aspiring Secret Service Agent who is trying to make amends with his daughter while also trying to get his life back in order after his divorce. Foxx's character is the President of the United States and he is trying very hard to have a peace treaty signed by multiple nations. This would indirectly end the war on terror and bring home the troops immediately. Not a lot of people are a fan of this treaty due to the very well know ingredient that is...money.
On the day that the President is supposed to make his announcement, Tatum takes his daughter to the White House for an exclusive tour. She is very excited and you can see that her rocky relationship with her dad is not looking so bad right now. Unfortunately, terror strikes as a group of American citizens blow up the Capital. This event is nothing more than a diversion to what lies ahead....The White House.
The tour is held hostage by the terrorists, but Tatum manages to escape. He is looking for his daughter who went to the restroom (impeccable timing) but comes across more terrorists. He uses his skills to defend himself and ends up coming across the President. He shoots at the main leader of this terroist group, and is able to save the President.
The main terrorist is a bit of a plot twist. He is the head of Secret Service. He is personally holding the President, and the United States accountable for the death of his son. His son was on a military mission and unfortunately got sent to the wolves. The leader gets himself a group of military trained men who are not too thrilled with the President as well - for their own reasons. The group is able to put their skills together to execute a very well orchestrated plan in beginning World War III. So we quickly learn this is more than just wanting money.
Foxx and Tatum do a great job keeping the action alive and holding the moviegoers at the edge of their seats. There a lot of moments when you think, "what's going to happen next?" While yes there were some far-fetched scenes (as one would expect in an action film), the movie was very well done and quite realistic. For Roland Emmerich, I was pleasantly surprised to see him focus on the acting and character development, and not just have every building blow up. It made the movie that much more raw.
The President is assumed dead, and so the VP is sworn in while flying Air Force One. Not soon after, the terrorist group hack into the military's main network, and fire a rocket straight to the aircraft. Everyone on board unfortunately dies. The Speaker of the House is now sworn in while in a military command center. He learns that the terrorists have gotten a hold of launch codes, and will be using them to fire nuclear missiles to every Middle Eastern country. They want to basically annihilate that part of the world. This will obviously begin a frenzy and China, Russia, and France are all ready to attack us should this take place. The new President wants to destroy the White House (even though the tour is still inside) in the hopes that this will wipe out the terrorists immediately. Tatum receives this notification from a colleague and does his best to stop the group on his own and rescue the hostages. He succeeds with the help of Foxx and his daughter....great scene in how she was able to get the military's attention and convince them to abort.
Big plot twist: just when we think it's over, we learn the true terrorist leader is the new President. He was going to have the White House destroyed after the launch codes were initiated (he killed the VP so he could be sworn in and get the launch codes to give to his terrorist team). This was so all evidence linking him to the project would be destroyed. He gets arrested and is obviously taken to prison leaving Foxx as President once more.
Overall the film was great. It was long but worth it. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this film and recommend it to everyone. While it brought out some very controversial points, you can't help but dismiss that since we all know a terrorist movie is asking for controversy.
My rating: A-
No comments:
Post a Comment