‘America Has Fallen’ (review)

Produced, Written and Directed by Tom Getty
Starring Curtis Caldwell, Tom Getty, Daniel Kuttner,
Philip Lewis, Eamon McGee, Kirsten Meenan, Joel Neff

I am going to save you some time.

Pass.

There is very little about this movie that makes any sense at all. It’s also low rent from beginning to end.

I can show you low budget movies with extremely high production values.

This is not one of them.

I can show you low budget movies with amazing scripts.

This is not one of them.

I can show you low budget movies with amazing acting.

This is not one of them.

I can show you YouTube videos with incredibly professional special effects.

This doesn’t have them.

The premise is simple. Producer, writer, director, star, Tom Getty is set up as a patsy for a terrorist attack that takes place in Pittsburgh. Conspiracies and excitement unfolds as he escapes from CIA custody and uncovers a deadly plot to destroy America.

Suspension of disbelief is required to truly enjoy movies and I am more than willing to believe the setup is possible. I would even go so far as to say the patsy set up was masterful. Kind of a long con with a cute girl that wound up putting poor ex special forces soldier Ryan into the middle of a terrorist conspiracy.

Everything that happens after that is completely implausible. There are too many instances of “why didn’t they just shoot him?” to make reasonable sense. Too many moments of, “why in the world would character X behave this way?” to really enjoy the movie. There are too many plot holes and coincidences. Somehow our “hero” can figure out what’s going on and get on the trail of the bad guy and his gang when literally every resource in the federal government is impotent…. OK… maybe that part is plausible, but not really.

The bad guy is such a rip off of Tom Hardy’s Bane in, The Dark Knight Rises, I think Christopher Nolan & Tom Hardy should buy this movie and burn every print of it to make sure no one accidentally mistakes them for being involved. It’s ridiculously poor writing and the execution by rookie actor Philip Lewis is less homage to Tom Hardy and more horrible impersonation. Having Lewis talk through a Darth Vader voice modulator is also a choice that’s really hard to defend or understand.

Last but not least we have the poor shot choices and production values. Almost every close up is a profile view, almost like Getty was shooting the scenes with the camera mounted on a selfie stick. The jump cuts and weird angles aren’t innovative, they are taxing to the viewer. The action sequences are poorly choreographed and what little gunfire there is sounds like toys. The CGI explosions are terribly animated. There is also a makeup job on the bad guy that is so poorly executed it almost defies description.

Obviously, I can’t recommend seeing this.

.5 out of 5 stars

America Has Fallen is now available On Demand.