Olympus Has Fallen

Move over Bruce. Gerry has taken over the Die Hard franchise and moved into The White House.

This is 24-carat, high pressure excitement, impossible odds, explosions every five minutes, torture, treachery and a plot you will pick to pieces afterwards. It comes with a triple V rating - violence, violence, violence!

The timing is perfect. Just when the fat kid with the silly haircut is threatening the world with a nuclear attack, Olympus Has Fallen opens.

The baddies who kidnap the US President (Aaron Erkhart) and half his cabinet are - you've guessed it - North Korean. Gerard Butler plays a member of the first family's security team who takes on the terrorists single handed. Morgan Freeman displays his well pressed dignity as Speaker of the House who assumes leadership while Number One is tied up.

Thank God it's not in 3-D. The action shouts for itself and the quality of mercy has been replaced by the splatter of blood across a portrait of Abe Lincoln outside the Oval Office. No quarter is given on either side. Body count? In the hundreds. Entertainment value? Depends upon your definition of "in harm's way."

Paisley born Butler has earned his spurs after wading through rom-coms (P.S. I Love You) and coming out onto the battlefield (Coriolanus) with confidence and authority.

This is his Waterloo. He does not flinch.