"White House Down"

Poor old Washington. The beautiful City and quite a few of its landmarks, especially The White House, have taken a fair old battering this year. Terrorists attacked the famous building earlier in the year in the action packed "Olympus Has Fallen", and alas the great landmark falls into the wrong hands yet again.

John Cale works on security detail for the Speaker of the House, a job he enjoys, but he seeks advancement, his aim is to work for the Secret Service on Presidential Protection. His work, as is often the case with men in this profession, has taken its toll on his private life, being divorced from his wife, and not having the best of relationships with his daughter Emily. So when going for his interview for Protective detail at The White House, he hopes to make a small amends by getting his daughter the chance to see the historic House, as she is very passionate about politics.
Unfortunately for them, the day that they visit is also the same day that an attack take place. Initially it starts when the Capitol building dome is blown up, this causes inevitable confusion, and then the attack starts on The White House.
With the lack of intel, the initial reaction is that the attack is the work of Middle Eastern terrorists, but could it be that the threat is from closer to home? Also, what is the motivation for the attack?
John and his daughter get seperated, and he finds he has two objectives, namely save his daughter and also his Commander In Chief. Not an easy task when you are a lone operative up against a highly trained team of mercenaries.

We get a brief introduction to the main players, it is done well but also efficiently, giving us enough information to know and care about the characters, but then to allow the main hub of the film to get going. A great cast has been assembled, ranging from Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Deaver to the always excellent James Woods.
Taking over the white vest wearing duties from Bruce Willis is the very eye pleasing Channing Tatum, and after the total disaster of "A Good Day To Die Hard", this can only be a good thing. He handles the lead action role well, bringing both a combination of wry humour when needed, emotion with scenes involving his daughter and providing kick ass action when required.
My one very minor gripe, as with "Olympus Has Fallen", is that the actor playing The President is not quite right for the role. But this is a minor quibble, and nothing that will detract from one of the best action films of the year.

With the film being directed by Roland Emmerich, you know that there will be no shortage of action and excitement. For me his films seem to fall into one of two camps, either absolutely fantastic like "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Independence Day" or absolutely dire like "Godzilla" and "2012". Thankfully this latest film is definitely the former. He cranks up the tension, and delivers on every level. I was always looking forward to this film, and it is difficult not to build up expectations, it is is so disappointing when a film fails, but rest assured this delivers and then some. I would not be surprised if this movie does not get a second viewing. I would certainly urge anyone going to see the film to try and view it on an an IMAX screen as it does enhance the whole cinematic experience.

The White House may fall, but my enjoyment of this movie will never.....9 out of 10.