White House Down
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: June 28, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 43 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
19
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The GuardianMark KermodeSep 15, 2013
This bona-fide big-budget Hollywood flop at least has the good grace to laugh at itself as it rolls out the dingbat-daft action-movie cliches. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonSep 10, 2013
The outcome may be pre-ordained, but Emmerich’s knack for a witty pop-culture reference, a pulse-pounding gun battle or a sneaky political undercurrent (the film has drawn fire in the US for being leftie propaganda) hasn’t deserted him. Read full review
60
EmpireNick de SemlyenSep 9, 2013
Lincoln meets Sudden Death: a corny but raucous throwback to when Planet Hollywood was hip. Gary Busey popping out of a rose bush wouldn’t feel out of place. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithSep 2, 2013
Longer than OHF and just as daft, WHD makes for a more entertaining watch before succumbing to the same bombastic overkill. Read full review
60
SlateDana StevensJun 28, 2013
Even as the story accrues preposterousness, the action moves along crisply, and Tatum and Foxx hit a nice buddy-movie vibe. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottJun 28, 2013
This is solidly a genre picture, and one that follows all the necessary conventions -- but it's also one that does it all very well. That means lots of big, dumb and loud action -- but it also means good, popcorny, summer fun. Read full review
60
SalonAndrew O'HehirJun 27, 2013
This piece of midsummer madness is undeniably silly and delusional, a dire political fable told as tongue-in-cheek pastiche. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisJun 27, 2013
As demented and entertaining as promised, and a little less idiotic than feared. Read full review
60
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlJun 25, 2013
Often, the hilarity is indisputably intentional. If you think you'll laugh and clap, try it; if you know you'll hate it, you're right. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJun 28, 2013
Tatum muscles his way through the role with panache, while Foxx never gets a chance to break loose. Read full review
58
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJun 27, 2013
White House Down is nearly enough fun to be a bad movie that's a good time. But it always finds some way of being a drag, belching exposition and weak humor when action's all we need, then carrying the action to exhausting lengths. Read full review
50
The DissolveNathan RabinJul 11, 2013
White House Down is never more than a sliver away from gleeful self-parody. It’s pure patriotic kitsch, the cinematic equivalent of a black-velvet painting of a bald eagle clutching an American flag in its talons as it soars majestically over Mount Rushmore. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandJul 1, 2013
The main flaw of White House Down is that it overstays its welcome, thanks in large part to a silly climax that seems to unfold in three laborious acts. At least, Tatum keeps his shirt off. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianMarc MohanJun 28, 2013
It's probably not a good idea to examine the political content of a film in which the leader of the free world proves that the pen is mightier than the sword by stabbing someone in the neck with one. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJun 28, 2013
This sloppy mess also pales in comparison to the better-paced, taut "Olympus Has Fallen," which represents 2013's better White House invasion story. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyJun 27, 2013
Formula action films don’t come much more formulaic that this. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie OgleJun 27, 2013
This is getting old. Read full review
50
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJun 26, 2013
White House Down is a corker, real competition for “Fast & Furious 6″ as the dumbest fun you’ll have at the movies this summer. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJun 25, 2013
Perhaps afraid that watching a symbol of liberty repeatedly go boom isn’t enough, Emmerich and screenwriter James Vanderbilt add family drama, an attack on Congress, a plane crash and the possible nuking of the Middle East. What isn’t tonally jarring ends up shatteringly inept. Read full review
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