"White House Down" (2013)

When people discuss the state of the modern movie blockbuster, they talk about how loud, dumb, and crass the films being produced are. White House Down appears to be another one of those dumb blockbusters -- and that's true: it's a big, bombastic action film.

And yet, that's why White House Down is worth lightly praising. It knows it's dumb. It never pretends to have any deep substance underneath. It's a bloody, close quarters shoot-em-up in the vein of Die Hard, a film it loosely borrows plot and character elements from. While it lack some of the heart, sharp characterization and general charm of Die Hard, White House Down feels like an older brand of stupidly fun action film.

John Cale (Channing Tatum) desperately hopes to get a job as a secret service member and finds himself, with his politically savvy eleven year old daughter Emily (Joey King), in the White House right as domestic terrorists siege the building. The daughter, tourists and members of the presidential cabinet are taken hostage. Cale becomes the sole force to stop the attackers, picking off the paramilitary forces and saving President James Sawyer (Jaimie Foxx) from harms way.

As the president and Cale team up to take down the eclectic bad guys (at one point literally referred to as "the bad guys" because that's the sort of movie this is), director Roland Emmerich creates a series of rapid-fire fight scenes. These scenes are unapologetic, uncomplicated popcorn entertainment. There's "good guys", and there's "bad guys", and they fight. Tatum and the president are outnumbered but find creative strategies to survive and win. Henchmen die without an eyelash being batted over the cost of violence. And while Martin Walker (James Wood) has reasonable motives, the film never really takes him as seriously as it should. His son died in military combat. The interesting thing here is that Walker's son died in covert fighting in Iran. But beyond the vaguest conception of "patriotism", the film isn't especially political.

Beyond its interior gunfights though, the film runs into problems. Emmerich can't resist his desire for spectacle (Independence Day, 2012). The stakes of the scenario keep getting raised and the CGI extravaganza sets in. None of this is ever as fun as the straight-up, tight-spaced brawls.

White House Down is filled with a lot of good performers, Maggie Ghyllenhall, Richard Jenkins, Jason Clarke, Jimmi Simpson, Lance Reddick. It's nothing meaty but they all make the most of what they're given. Tatum has the looks and charisma to be an action star; it's a wonder no one has thought to do this sooner.

Don't expect depth in White House Down. It's a shoot-first-ask-questions-later, bullets-blazing action film unafraid to simply be an unembellished good time. It's bloated and unwieldy in places, but for a good two hours of mindless fun it serves its purpose nicely.

 Grade: ★★