The best of the two is “White House Down,” a picture that balances wild action sequences with a healthy sense of humor. “Olympus Has Fallen,” on the other hand, takes things deadly serious. It centers on Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), a U.S. Secret Service agent who loses favor by failing to save the first lady (Ashley Judd) in the aftermath of an automobile accident. Mike gets an opportunity to redeem himself when the White House is taken over by well-organized attackers. 

Credit Emperor for putting big questions front and center for the audience to ponder: What is the United States, in the role of victor, supposed to do as a nation-builder? Benevolence?  Revenge? Step away and let the power vacuum be filled by something unknown (in 1945 Japan, this is Stalin and communism). With the United States’ role in the change of leadership in Iraq and  Afghanistan, these questions still haunt the world’s foremost democracy. The movie succeeds in demonstrating there are no easy answers.