“Agent Kellerman: [after seeing the president carrying a rocket launcher]. This is something you don't see every day” ~White House Down

What do you get when a corrupt Secret Service agent helps mercenaries take over the White House and an interview goes all wrong? You get explosions, thrills and quite a few laughs thrown in. Released in 2013, White House Down stormed into movie theaters to packed audiences seeking action, drama and comedy with actor Channing Tatum as the hero. This is definitely a hard combination to beat.

The day starts off all wrong for John Cale, Capitol Police Officer on detail for Speaker of the House of Representative Raphelson (Richard Jenkins). A squirrel has once again gotten into his boss’ birdfeeder. Only Channing Tatum could pull of such a ridiculous conversation with a squirrel at the beginning of an action movie. Cale’s day, however, doesn’t get any better. Desperately trying to impress his precocious daughter, Emily (Joey King), he picks her up from his estranged wife’s house and takes her with him to the White House.

Emily is an avid fan of the White House and everything presidential. Cale is interviewing for one of the most important jobs of his career, the Secret Service. After failing the interview, Cale takes his daughter on the White House tour. Emily gets to meet and video interview President Sawyer for her blog. The tour soon begins, but quickly turns deadly as the mercenaries quickly take over the White House.

There are a lot of critics to this movie, some calling it a watered-down version of Olympus has Fallen. I would disagree. In fact, it’s difficult to find any movie that doesn’t copy another movie in some form or fashion. White House Down managed to keep me on the edge of my seat for most of the film. In addition, the comedy provided by Jamie Foxx (as President Sawyer) and Nicolas Wright (Donnie the guide) added just the right amount of comic relief to the explosions and constant action.

Foxx and Channing had excellent comedic chemistry together. Maggie Gyllenhaal gave a good performance as Agent Finnerty, though it felt as if there was a backstory between her and Cale which may have ended up on the cutting-room floor.

There were a few not-so-great moments, however. While I thought Channing Tatum was excellent in the role of John Cale, it did stretch the imagination that his attire and demeanor were so casual given the fact that it was supposed to be an interview for the Secret Service.

If you’re looking for a 100% serious invasion film, this definitely isn’t for you. If you’re looking a film filled with tons of action and laughs, you’ll definitely enjoy it.

Overall, I give this movie a 4 out of 5 starts.

White House Down is available on Amazon.com.

I purchased a ticket with my own funds for this movie. It is now a part of my personal action DVD collection.