How many times is Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) expected to save the day? He must feel as exhausted as Bruce Willis during the height of the DIE HARD days. The former Army ranger first started saving America’s interests in the 2013 action-thriller OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN. This summer, he’s back on the big screen for the bombastic ANGEL HAS FALLEN … and he has a secret weapon up his sleeve.
Before we get into that, here’s what you need to remember about the series before you go.
Banning has been on presidential detail since OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, risking life and limb to guard President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) through both OLYMPUS and its sequel, LONDON HAS FALLEN.
Asher is out of office, but Mike Banning is still protecting our president, this time portrayed by Morgan Freeman (a staple of the franchise). Once again, there’s an attack on our leader, only this time, Banning is framed for the crime. He has to fight back to clear his name, and he finds an unlikely ally — in his father, Clay Banning (Nick Nolte).
Oh, heck yeah.
This plot twist has been employed in top action-thrillers from time to time. The man who lays it all on the line to stop terrible things from happening gets accused of the very crimes he struggles to prevent. “Can’t you see I’m being set up?” asks Mike Banning (Butler) in the full trailer for ANGEL HAS FALLEN, and anyone who has watched OLYMPUS or LONDON should be able to see that.
But once on the run, Banning needs assistance, and he takes it from the unlikely source of his father. Here, with the pairing of Butler and Nick Nolte, we will learn of the training that made Banning the ultimate warrior that we have seen for two previous movies.
It also looks like ANGEL HAS FALLEN will go back to basics. Clay Banning is as “old school” as they come, fighting back with man-made weaponry and traps in the woods that are just the type of secret weapon Mike needs to stop an enemy who unleashes killer drones at the start of the full trailer.
Haven’t seen it yet? Give it a watch right now:
Are you ready to go on the run with Mike Banning as he fights to both protect the president (again!) and clear his name? Gerard Butler, Nick Nolte, Piper Perabo and Morgan Freeman will be battling the bad guys when ANGEL HAS FALLEN blasts into theatres August 23. Check back for tickets.
