Channing Tatum’s Craziest Action Film Is Dominating Streaming Charts
Channing Tatum's White House Down is one of the wildest action films of all time and it's currently number five on Amazon Prime.
When Channing Tatum was transitioning from bland action films to comedy, he was leaving behind films like Haywire, G.I. Joe, and The Eagle into meatier roles, including Magic Mike and 21 Jump Street. At the precise intersection of his action and comedy films lies White House Down, an absurd action film that leans into every trope of the genre. FlixPatrol reports that the film is now number five on Amazon Prime in the United States and for some reason, number six on iTunes in Zimbabwe.
White House Down stars Channing Tatum as John Cale, a Capital Police Officer that interviews for the Secret Service while taking his daughter, Emily Cale (Bullet Train’s Joey King) on a tour of the White House. President Sawyer is played by Jamie Foxx and the three find themselves trapped in the most famous residence on the planet when terrorists take it over. Rounding out the cast Emil Stenz (Jason Clarke), an ex-CIA operative turned traitor, and Head of the Secret Service, Martin Walker (James Woods).
The film embraces the absurd premise of the White House being assaulted from the inside with the President leading the charge against the terrorists. One of the greatest scenes in movie history features President Sawyer firing a massive anti-infantry gun on top of an armored vehicle in front of a gathered crowd of onlookers. This is the type of movie where a tour guide takes out a terrorist and then drops a one-liner.
In short, it’s the perfect action movie for Channing Tatum’s unique blend of movie-star good looks and comedic timing. Audiences thought so to, with the film grossing over $200 million worldwide, which was a disappointment but in streaming and DVD sales later, the film became an action classic. Part of what may have hurt the initial reception was that White House Down is a “Hollywood Twin” film.
Months before the Channing Tatum/Jamie Foxx film was released, Gerard Butler’s Olympus Has Fallen with Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman came out. The two films have the same premise, a terrorist attack on the White House, but Olympus Has Fallen is a straight action film. Despite weaker reviews and less money at the box office, it’s Butler’s film that went on to spawn a franchise while White House Down will likely never receive a sequel.
Both films are derived from the same source material, Vince Flynn’s novel Transfer of Power, though unofficially each also bears similarities to Die Hard. Channing Tatum is wearing a white tank top as a direct homage to the Bruce Willis classic while the film was often referred to as “Die Hard in the White House.”
The absurd over-the-top action sequences and comedic sensibilities have made White House Down a re-watchable action classic. It doesn’t have the depth of Channing Tatum’s later work, like Dog, but it’s also more coherent than G.I.Joe. Anyone interested in catching one of the craziest action films of all time can catch it now on Amazon Prime.
Channing Tatum’s next film, Magic Mike’s Last Dance, will be released February 10th.
