by Joel Glover
in Issue 148
You may be familiar with the film franchise I will refer to as “has fallen”. Gerard Butler, in his final hurrahs as a borderline A-list action star, combines with glass-of-milk with cheekbones Aaron Eckhart and the ghost of good performances by Morgan Freeman in this land of the free, home of the brave, propaganda trilogy.
Before I begin: as a base concept, over a pint I will argue that the key protagonist in a traditional Swords and Sorcery story is a fight first, think later barbarian with a simple worldview, distrustful of complexity; later waves inject into this simple and satisfying structure the opportunity to satirise that worldview whilst also exploring whether the ‘noble savage’ concept is dehumanising whilst at the same time enabling violence at the hands of imperial power.
I also want to make sure that you know that the first thing to remember about the first instalment of this cinematic universe “Olympus Has Fallen”, and possibly the only thing, is that it is not “White House Down” a film released in the same year in which the White House is taken by terrorists.
In “Olympus Has Fallen” the animus of the North Korean mastermind towards the last empire which is starving his people and did accidentally murder his mother is not examined in any critical way. This means the film can follow a standard action trope, where a good man with a tough past can step into a situation and redeem himself. He lives by his code, kills the ‘villains’ and everything (?) is well again.
The screenwriters seem to have thought differently when it came time for the sequels. This helps start to shift the franchise out of the mire of the hegemonic view of an action series, and give it the potential to have the satirical and moral opportunities afforded by Swords and Sorcery before… failing.
In “London Has Fallen” the antagonist uses technology and planning to overcome the massed military might of the Metropolitan police before his plot is undone by a singularly focussed and relentless protagonist, whose philosophy is that no sun will ever set on the political project of his land, and who resolves any of his issues with force of arms.
Where the film’s writing fails itself, and therefore fails to reflect the development in the genre, is when it misses the opportunity to examine the moral equivalency and potency between the two parties in conflict.
The antagonists are aggrieved because a wedding was bombed and a beloved daughter/sister killed in the fallout. A wheelchair bound technician, one infers, has dedicated himself to his art after being wounded. The whole plan is a revenge plot, which will show that through cleverness the brutal oppression can be overthrown.
You might find that plot hard to film that movie under Marvel’s banner, but I can imagine it cropping up pretty much unaltered on major fantasy imprints with only a couple of tweaks. At the point where the American president is about to be beheaded he delivers what I am sure is intended to be a rousing repetition of his oath of office, rather than taking even a moment of moral reckoning, thinking about the extent to which his actions have led him to this dark moment. I can name more authors who would have taken that swing than I can count fingers on my very lovely feet.
Happily (for Aaron, at least) Gerard turns up, takes some crazy risks, and solves the problem. In case we misunderstood whether “might makes right” Morgan Freeman then drone-strikes the antagonists home. Let’s not think about whether there was anyone cleaning the patio or watering the plants, I am sure the action of the vizier with the power to kill at the click of his fingers was completely justified.
In the final instalment “Angel Has Fallen” our ‘hero’ fights against the insidious gullibility of the inherently useless government. Though this plotline tracks the rightwards trend in American popular culture, what is curious is that the “Angel…” screenwriters apply the same “technology is bad when in the wrong hands” and “don’t trust the military industrial complex” moral position previously seen in “White House Down”.
Again there’s a huge overlap between the structural nods in “Angel…” with modern Swords and Sorcery: the ageing man of violence seeking out healing from a series of people; the mentor/mentee relationship the film attempts to build (having watched these films in short order, I shall remind people that the animus between Morgan Freeman and Gerard Butler is established in almost the first lines spoken, but immediately forgotten… I’m going to accept that this is actually pretty classic pulp continuity); the betrayal by a trusted friend; the father/son relationship which comes out of nowhere just to add in some pyrotechnics.
Again the film fizzles out because the writers are unaware of/afraid of using the developments in the genre to support the principal underpinnings. No tragedy runs through, no apprentice rises to take the place of the ageing brute, and the empire goes on, continuing to be unacquainted with defeat.
There are lessons to be learned from these films: they were obviously successful enough to generate sequels, jobs, revenue. The beats are clearly laid out, familiar and comforting. But there was more for the films to learn if the writers had just shed the suits and put on a loincloth.
©May 2024, Joel Glover
Former waiter in a Love Boat themed restaurant, reformed mandarin, and extroverted accountant, Joel Glover is a cuddly teddy bear, really. He lives in the woods of Hertfordshire with two boys and one wife. In a house, not a nest. He knows how that sounds. His grimdark novel The Path of Pain and Ruin is available on Amazon, and publication of his short fiction is forthcoming.
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