White House Down

"With its Die Hard-in-the-White-House premise already taken out in a pre-emptive strike by Olympus Has Fallen earlier this year, White House Down suddenly had to do more than just rely on its high concept. That’s something it almost sorta does, thanks in part to director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) - who’s never met an outlandish blockbuster idea he and a billion people didn’t like - but mostly due to a cast that does much of the heavy lifting."

"Itself owing much to such lone-man-of-action hallmarks as “Die Hard” and “Speed,” this welcome throwback to an earlier, more generously entertaining era of summer blockbusters delivers a wide array of close-quarters combat and large-scale destruction."

"Makes for an entertaining watch before succumbing to the same bombastic overkill."

"Cheap, shoddy, dull, instantly forgettable—this is the America, and American cinema, we know all too well."

"As demented and entertaining as promised, and a little less idiotic than feared."

"Never more than a sliver away from gleeful self-parody. It’s pure patriotic kitsch, the cinematic equivalent of a black-velvet painting of a bald eagle clutching an American flag in its talons as it soars majestically over Mount Rushmore."

"An action thriller that doesn’t know when to quit. For the most part, though, it remains preposterously entertaining."

"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."