The State of the Union is absolutely chaotic, but this is Roland Emmerich we're talking about: a master of putting global scale annihilation on the big screen. He creates explosions and biblical mayhem like Itzhak Perlman plays the violin. He's a virtuoso and yes, he's just that good.
But "White House Down" seems quaint compared to his back catalogue of booming cataclysms. It doesn't feature as many upending explosions, at least not on the scale of "2012" or "Independence Day," and it doesn't feature any sort of ridiculous prophecy made solely for the purpose of spinning the plot like "10,000 B.C.".
No, Emmerich and "White House Down" screenwriter James Vanderbilt ("The Amazing Spider-Man") gave the viewing public the best "Die Hard" that Bruce Willis never made. And it is two hours of glorious, beautiful schlock all the way through.
The story of "White House Down" isn't much of a plot so much as a premise for using the White House as a destructive playground. A bunch of right-wing thugs, henchmen, and baddies (you can tell because they have intimidating tattoos) launch an attack upon the Senate building. Kowtowing to the fears and confusion of that bombing, and led by Emil Stenz, a bad guy with a bad name played by Jason Clarke ("The Great Gatsby"), a raid is brought to the steps of Olympus.
Meanwhile, Channing Tatum ("Side Effects") plays John Cale, who scores an interview to join the President's Secret Service and happens to be the right man in the wrong place when the hijacking of the nation's most famous building is besieged.
Cale is a one man army and a capable action hero. When he finally teams up with Jamie Foxx, playing the idealistic President James Sawyer, "White House Down" eventually turns into a bizarre buddy movie.
To say this borrows a few plays out from under John McTiernan's "Die Hard" and Michael Bay's "The Rock" is an understatement. "White House Down" almost feels like a full blown homage to late
