Lets tell a story. IN THE BEGINNING there was a fairly unique TV show called Moonlighting directed by a maverick director who used a lot of strange cuts and spent a lot of time on the chemistry between the two stars. The female star was an ageing blonde bombshell and the male star was a relative unknown named Bruce Willis. The show was a hit. When it ended, both tried to move into features, but only Willis succeeded. His breakout role was an adaptation of a novel by (then) bestselling writer Roderick Thorpe and it was called Die Hard. It was brilliant. One of the best films of its kind ever done. And Willis was brilliant, showing a knack for action and pathos at the same time. The movie (DIE HARD) was so good it became a franchise although the quality of the sequels was very uneven (and the last entry was an abomination). But Hollywood is nothing if not repetitive, and as it becomes clear that Willis is too old to continue, the HUNT FOR A NEW BRUCE WILLIS CONTINUES. In one corner we have Gerard Butler who, to be fair, does a brilliant job in a movie (OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN) that lacks good writing, good direction, and a good supporting cast. And now (because, as noted, Hollywood is repetitive) we have WHITE HOUSE DOWN, where the versatile Channing Tatum gives it a go. Here the writing direction and supporting cast are a bit better than OLYMPUS but the net effect is to make Tatum part of an ensemble cast and that of course is the absolutely wrong thing you want to do in this kind of picture. It is somewhat entertaining and (as said) a heck of a lot better than anything Willis himself has done lately. BUT DIE HARD IT Ain't.
