Action movies have shamelessly ripped off “Die Hard” for 25 years. “Speed” was “Die Hard” on a bus. “Air Force One” and “Con Air” were “Die Hard” on planes. “The Rock” was “Die Hard” on Alcatraz Island. In each, there’s a gruff John McClane stand-in who saves the day.

This year’s trend is “Die Hard” at the White House. “White House Down” starring Channing Tatum comes in June, but first up is “Olympus Has Fallen,” where Gerard Butler mows down a horde of North Korean terrorists wreaking havoc on the West Wing.

Awash in jingoistic patriotism and blatant flag-waving symbolism, “Olympus” brazenly exploits modern fears of rogue nuclear-capable countries led by raving whack jobs. The nonstop barrage of bullets, explosions and special effects is grounded in predictability, yet it’s never boring, taking visceral pleasure in turning Washington, D.C., into a smoking pile of rubble.

Butler is a serviceable-enough lead, finding entertaining ways to massacre slews of henchmen while taunting the evil mastermind and cursing out his inept bosses via earpiece. Boy does that sound familiar.

All pretenses of originality aside, “Olympus Has Fallen” is a reasonably enjoyable cookie-cutter action flick. It’s suspenseful, fast-paced and gratuitously violent to the point of excess, buoyed by A-list cast members acting just well enough to earn their presumably hefty paychecks.

On a snowy Christmas Eve, Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Butler) and his team are escorting President Asher (Aaron Eckhart), the First Lady (Ashley Judd) and their son Connor (Finley Jacobsen) to a party when an icy crash on a frozen bridge leads to the First Lady’s tragic death.

Eighteen months later, a disgraced Banning charges back into the White House, following an elaborate takeover plot orchestrated by international terrorist Kang (Rick Yune). Banning must rescue the president and his cabinet before Speaker of the House Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) is forced to withdraw U.S. troops from the Korean border.

The terrorists are torturing the hostages into divulging those pesky nuclear launch codes too, so Banning also has a Jack Bauer “WE’RE-RUNNING-OUT-OF-TIME” scenario on his hands.

Butler plays a halfway-decent John McClane, growling cheeky one-liners with a smirk as he sneaks around the White House. Yet even as he’s shooting, choking and interrogating bad guy after bad guy, his performance is missing an element of authentic heroism.

While Butler is finally — for the moment — out of his god-awful rom-com phase, neither “Olympus” nor any of his other action roles have ever come close to the unadulterated badassery of King Leonidas in “300.”

So even as he pummels a terrorist to death with a bust of Lincoln’s head, Butler is cursed with an insurmountable action legacy.

Still, Butler’s performance solidly anchors the explosive special effects and dizzying carnage unfolding around him. Director Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”) clearly enjoyed burning his blockbuster budget on flashy, eye-popping action sequences.

In the initial attack, a North Korean kamikaze plane rampages downtown D.C., launching scores of bullets and missiles while taking out a chunk of the Washington Monument. The surprise ground assault and ensuing firefight are shot with quick-cut intensity, spraying the White House deep red in eerie resemblance to the bloody ending sequence of “Django Unchained.”

The supporting performances are nothing particularly special, but they get the job done. Eckhart is well cast as the charismatic president, staring down the requisitely menacing and ruthless Kang with square-jawed courage.

Freeman spends most of the film sitting in the war room arguing with incompetent generals. The veteran actor adds a comforting presence, but his role doesn’t have much substance.

The action flick’s best performance comes from Melissa Leo (“The Fighter”) as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan. Literally battered and beaten within an inch of her life, Leo’s quivering bravery and stubborn defiance are genuinely heartbreaking.

“Olympus Has Fallen” is nothing new. The wisecracking hero saves the world from chaos and destruction, leaving a pile of dead terrorists in his wake — and some national landmarks get trashed.

As far as “Die Hard” copycats go, it could’ve been worse.

Published on April 3, 2013 at 11:20 pm

Contact Rob: rjmarvin@syr.edu