'Angel Has Fallen' Trailer: Can Gerard Butler Save The Summer Movie Season? Probably Not, But We Can Dream

The summer movie season is almost over, and thank heavens for that! Before it goes away, though, we'll be blessed (?) with yet another adventure in the Has Fallen series. Gerard Butler's xenophobic Secret Service Agent Mike Banning is back, and this time the thing that Has Fallen is his reputation. Because Banning has been framed for trying to assassinate the President (Morgan Freeman), and now he has to clear his name. Watch the Angel Has Fallen trailer below.

Olympus Has Fallen, the first in the Has Fallen trilogy, was kind of fun. It was a big, dumb action movie that was basically Die Hard in the White House. It didn't break new ground, and I barely remember what the hell happened in it, but I was entertained when I saw it. I never got around to seeing the sequel, London Has Fallen, but by all accounts, it's a considerably ugly and even racist blockbuster – which has kept me from bothering to check it out.

Now here comes Angel Has Fallen. Here's the synopsis:

When there is an assassination attempt on U.S. President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman), his trusted confidant, Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), is wrongfully accused and taken into custody. After escaping from capture, he becomes a man on the run and must evade his own agency and outsmart the FBI in order to find the real threat to the President. Desperate to uncover the truth, Banning turns to unlikely allies to help clear his name, keep his family from harm and save the country from imminent danger.

Angel Has Fallen is arriving at the dead-end of August, which is usually when Hollywood dumps the summer movies they're not that sure of. But this summer has been such a dire season for films that all bets are off now. For all we know, Angel Has Fallen might end up being the surprise summer treat we've been thirsting for. Or it might be a big piece of shit! One thing is for sure: Gerard Butler will spend most of the movie grumbling and frowning.Angel Has Fallen, directed by Ric Roman Waugh from a screenplay by Robert Mark Kamen and Matt Cook & Ric Roman Waugh and a story by Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt, starring Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lance Reddick, Tim Blake Nelson, Piper Perabo, with Nick Nolte, and Danny Huston, arrives August 23, 2019.