White House Down (2013): Review

Today I went and saw White House Down and I am glad to say that it was a pretty solid action movie.  There were some bits that were slightly annoying and I think that if some of the gags where cut out it would have been even better.
White House Down is pretty much what it seems to be, John Cale, played by Channing Tatum is in the White House for a job interview with his daughter Emily, played by Joey King.  While they are on a tour, terrorist take over the White House and Cale steps up to help try and save President Sawyer, played by Jamie Foxx, and try and protect his daughter.  While he is doing this, there are  hurtles that must be overcome and lots of pieces that have to be fit together.  Per usual in this type of movie there are those on the outside, specifically Secret Service Agent Flannery, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who are trying to figure out what is going on and save the day.  There is also some of the standard who is really who and what role do they play intrigue that has become common in these movies.
There was no really mystery for me in this movie and it played pretty much to type, but that didn't really bother me because the plot kept going and changed up what was happening.  The action sequences where not drawn out.  Overall I liked the cast and the acting (for an action movie) and in my opinion Channing Tatum is a good lead in action movies and is much better then a lot of others out there right now. I also liked Maggie Gyllenhall and how she fit into the puzzle. The weak link for me was Jamie Foxx as President Sawyer and this isn't because he doesn't have the capacity to be a good actor, he does, but that it seemed like he was the only one doing gags and this was inconsistent with the overall feel of the movie.  These things through in, example the comment about the Jordan's was unnecessary and the humor could have either been more subtle, or more consistent with the other characters.  If more of the acting from the others was campy or OTT this would not have been an issue but it seemed like he was planted in from another movie.
The CGI was not too blatant and the overall movie was a solid action film.  Nothing truly notable but defiantly good enough. Also, although tight shots were done during the fighting sequences it wasn't complete tight up, there were wider shots of the fights and I really liked this.
There did seem to be too many characters that had moments where the focus was on them, and for me this was unnecessary.  They didn't need to make it that complex, people who could have just been mentioned as who they are and what role they played to keep everything going, an example being the first lady and daughter, I don't understand why we needed to see a scene of them worried, them just being mentioned would have been sufficient to why they were not there and of course they would be worried.
This is worth watching in theatres if you like seeing all the stuff get blow up and shot at on the big scene but is definitely worth a rental if you like action movies.

My Rating: 2