Angel Has Fallen
Lionsgate | Release Date: August 23, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
20
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleAug 22, 2019
In fact, none of the performances here are phoned in. Freeman shows great aptitude for the presidency and should consider running — then he could play the president onscreen and off. And as the vice president, Tim Blake Nelson finally gets a role worthy of his depth. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaAug 21, 2019
Gerard Butler boasts an engaging screen presence that can make even junky movies fun. Maybe it’s the blustery swagger or his jokey attitude that essentially screams, “I’m not taking any of this too seriously.” Either way, it works, especially in Angel Has Fallen. Read full review
69
Paste MagazineDom SinacolaAug 22, 2019
Waugh’s action set pieces don’t surprise so much as operate with impressive efficiency Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleAug 22, 2019
 Angel Has Fallen attempts to tell a slightly more mature story. Waugh seems to barter for creative control by the act: As long as the studio gets a respectable pairing of intro and outro set-pieces, Waugh is free to explore unexpected elements of trauma and masculinity. Read full review
63
ObserverOliver JonesAug 22, 2019
It is a doom-invoking, cathartic and strangely satisfying head-trip that’s also a bit ridiculous. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshAug 21, 2019
At the heart of the “Has Fallen” franchise is the affection between men, and Butler has always shared the best chemistry with his male co-stars. That spark in “Angel” comes from Butler’s scenes with Nick Nolte, as his father, Clay, a veteran living off the grid. Read full review
60
Film ThreatAlex SavelievAug 25, 2019
Yes, it’s all uber-violent, in-your-face, completely lacking sophistication – but I’ll be damned if it’s not entertaining. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyAug 21, 2019
Angel Has Fallen is almost worth seeing. Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenAug 21, 2019
It’s frenetic, brashly executed and so full of shooting, you’ll stagger away with tinnitus. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyAug 21, 2019
It's all utterly preposterous, and yet Waugh handles the big scenes pretty well. Read full review
60
IGNJoey EspositoAug 21, 2019
Angel Has Fallen never quite digs deep enough into its themes and is inconsistent in its execution of action sequences. Read full review
50
Original-CinKim HughesAug 22, 2019
It’s entertainment as fast food, though perhaps slightly less objectionable than the horrors perpetuated by KFC. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenAug 22, 2019
Angel Has Fallen plays out exactly as you would expect from a potboiler of this type. No surprises here, other than that it exists at all. It’s the kind of movie one expects to be released at the shank end of summer. Time to turn the page to fall. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 22, 2019
Angel Has Fallen feels like it was cobbled together with cliched action scenes and circumstances overused by the once-popular TV series "24." Angel Has Fallen tries hard (and often succeeds) to topple the Kiefer Sutherland program on the “preposterousness” scale. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 21, 2019
Butler wears the weary man of war thing well, and his stunt crew is aces. Just don’t take any of the rest of this seriously. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerAug 21, 2019
There’s no thrill to this thriller. Nor is there nuance to the characters. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyAug 21, 2019
Given the awfulness of its predecessor, which was this publication’s pick for the worst film of 2016, a sequel that’s merely pedestrian represents a dramatic improvement. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonAug 21, 2019
After the sorry spectacle and blatant xenophobia of London Has Fallen, it’s almost a relief that Angel is merely a competent, second-rate action vehicle. This trilogy’s ambitions have never been particularly high, but at least this third chapter’s fleeting junk-food pleasures aren’t undermined by base pandering. Read full review
45
TheWrapTodd GilchristAug 21, 2019
No one has ever accused a Gerard Butler action movie of being too smart, but “Angel Has Fallen” operates on such a level of half-considered logic and improbable motivations that even moderately well-mounted action can’t distract audiences from how dumb it is. Read full review
42
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonAug 22, 2019
Angel Has Fallen is maybe the least objectionable of the Fallen series, but that’s not really saying much, is it? Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Simran HansAug 25, 2019
Butler is convincingly sturdy as Banning, but the film’s politics are shaky. Read full review
40
We Got This CoveredAsher LubertoAug 22, 2019
Angel Has Fallen is a galumphing installment to a galumphing action franchise. With a hero who's been beaten to a pulp, the next one could very well be called "Gerard Butler Has Fallen: Natural Causes." Read full review
40
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergAug 22, 2019
"The Fugitive,” to which “Angel” owes perhaps even its rooftop finale, is a template against which this movie inevitably falls short. Read full review
40
Total FilmNeil SmithAug 21, 2019
Maudlin, glum and distinctly cheap-looking, Angel brings the curtain down on a trilogy that should have never got this far. Read full review
40
EmpireJohn NugentAug 21, 2019
A big, lumbering bastard of an action movie sequel. It achieves more-or-less exactly what it promises — which, given this franchise’s track record, is a low bar to clear. Read full review
40
The GuardianMike McCahillAug 21, 2019
As with Den of Thieves, Angel falls into the “lively mediocrity” category of Butler schlock, with one or two plot hikes that suggest the script meetings were well-refreshed. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineJake ColeAug 23, 2019
The film seems to have cobbled its set pieces together from a series of close-ups edited as if by random selection. Read full review
37
Washington PostHau ChuAug 21, 2019
Most action flicks would settle for thrilling violence and mayhem, in service of a utilitarian plot. “Angel” flips this formula on its head, delivering a surprisingly coherent story but with no discernible sense of fun. Read full review
33
IndieWireDavid EhrlichAug 21, 2019
Angel Has Fallen is the kind of movie that leaves you feeling restless and thinking about dinner long before the third act, but anyone who sticks it out until the bitter end will be rewarded with one of the greatest mid-credits sequences ever devised. Read full review
30
VarietyOwen GleibermanAug 21, 2019
The plot — which is to say, the plot against the president — is, once again, a violently overwrought confection of “topical” comic-strip ludicrousness; that’s the DNA of the “Fallen” series. Yet when you’re watching a big-budget B-movie, there’s good preposterous and there’s bad preposterous. Read full review
25
UproxxVince ManciniJan 2, 2020
From the very beginning of Angel Is Fallen, the camera is far too close to everyone’s faces while the frame jiggles slightly and parts of it cycle in and out of focus as if the action is happening down on the field and we’re watching it from the nosebleed seats through a telescope. Is this an artistic choice or a logistical compromise? Either way, it sucks. Read full review
25
The Associated PressLindsey BahrAug 22, 2019
It might still be passable for cable, but this series has sadly fallen into unwatchable territory. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsAug 22, 2019
The sleepy, dopey action bonanza Angel Has Fallen is disappointing, and not just for the reasons you might expect. Read full review
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