While on a tour of the White House with his young daughter, a Capitol policeman springs into action to save his child and protect the president from a heavily armed group of paramilitary invaders.
Satisfyingly preposterous.
The film never knows when to stop and overdoes the action sequences, with one dumb showdown after another.
Lincoln meets Sudden Death: a corny but raucous throwback to when Planet Hollywood was hip. Gary Busey popping out of a rose bush wouldn’t feel out of place.
It has impressive star-power to match its firepower, however. Tatum is very appealing, Foxx makes for a personable Obama-esque fantasy President and the strong supporting cast includes the estimable James Woods, Richard Jenkins and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Roland Emmerich's latest apocalyptic epic is so ludicrous that you guess he must have researched it by watching old Jerry Zucker spoofs.
The basic silliness of all those CGI effects and all the digitally fabricated action mean that real thrills – dependent on real, believable jeopardy – are not on offer: just cheerfully absurd spectacle and a little bit of humour.
A blockbuster that’s stupid and fun has its merits, but a blockbuster that’s stupid and boring (and this is well over two hours) is unforgivable.
I laughed a lot – and I suspect Emmerich did too. And then everything blew up. Again.
An expensive blockbuster chuckle that doesn't last.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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