Yippee-ki-yay, North Korea!

With tensions in North Korea constantly on the rise, Gerard Butler’s new action-packed outing tells a story that doesn’t seem far too out of reach.

Even in this fictional world where Butler is an ex-Secret Service agent now demoted to work in the Treasury Department, North Korea is causing problems for the free world with their endless nuclear missile tests. Naturally, a meeting between the United States and its ally South Korea takes place in the White House, only for this highly-secured engagement to be hijacked by a guerrilla attack led by the North Koreans.

Well-armed bad guys dressed as tourists take over the White House in a laughable instant, and it’s as though the trained men who are supposed to be guarding those highest in the government forgot to come into work prepared that day. Whatever the reason, everyone falls like leaves, in a pretty hilarious sequence that shows the audience, in slow-motion and backed by corny music, the gunning down of agent after agent who are helpless against the perfectly prepared villains. There’s even a dog that puts up a fight. Subtlety isn’t exactly the film’s strong suit, nor should it be.

Trapped in an impenetrable underground bunker with the terrorists is the President (Eckhart), Secretary of Defense (Leo), amongst others who are played by less well-known faces which means they matter much less. Not even the position of Vice President is worthy of having a relatively famous name play him. (Poor Joe Biden - this goes to show the public’s general perception of that particular position) They’re pushed around and kicked about, as they hold important secrets that prove vital to the North Koreans’ endgame. But enough about them, where on earth is Butler flexing his hero muscles?

And so it’s the perfect time for retired agent Mike Banning (Butler) to jump back into action, and take on these guys all by himself. It seems like an unfair fight, but not to worry; Banning was one of the best agents Lynne Jacobs (Bassett), the head of Secret Services, had ever seen, which means he can take on a number of bad guys, even after 18 months of being out of the field, have all sorts of injuries inflicted on him, and yet can walk away fine from all the bloody mess. That’s what “best” means - i.e. superhuman.

Speaker of the House Allan Trumbull (Freeman) is now the Acting President and in turn, forms himself a little emergency committee, which is essentially full of self-important, arrogant idiots who can’t do a single useful thing in their stuffy meeting room. In dire times such as this one, Banning has no trouble speaking freely, calling them out on their silly errors, and generating some laughs for the audience for his sheer audacity.

Playing a man defined by his brute force and very little humanity, Butler absolutely nails the role Bruce Willis played more than a couple of decades ago. He has no trouble looking convincing as he beats someone to a pulp, he is disturbingly calm as he tortures someone for information, and he has no trouble firing off sly one-liners at the bad guys. This role seems to have been tailored for Butler, and he seems to be comfortably in his place, doing what he does best.

Other roles are very limited, as the film has barely enough time to develop its central character. All those taken hostage put on an admiring level of bravery and patriotism, most memorable being Leo’s Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan who doesn’t utter a single useful word for the terrorists even after she’s punched and kicked in ways no elderly woman should ever be treated.

Yune has played a vicious North Korean before in yet another high-profile film, Die Another Day, and he smoothly pulls off yet another one of those as he makes crazy demands and stares glaringly into the camera.

Under the assured hands of Fuqua, the man who gave us Training Day, Tears of the Sun, among others, he isn’t one to shy away from brutality. There is a lot of fun to be had as the unrestrained pitbull of Banning ploughs his way through saving the day, although his mission is slightly derailed having to focus on saving the President’s young son, the film’s weak point in selling the action.

It’s all incredibly silly, and this makes one hope that the actual White House does have better security than what is demonstrated here. Otherwise if North Korea gets their hands on a copy of this film, we could all be done for. And the shamelessly patriotic message (any lingering shot of the American flag is an example) may even have you unknowingly side with the invaders. But all in all, it’s a dumb, fun, easy watch.