White House Down is Roland Emmerich’s return to the summer box office and once again it is at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue’s expense.

White House Down is an action movie in the same vain as Die Hard with the added humor of Lethal Weapon. Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum have great on screen chemistry as they try to fight their way out of an occupied White House. It should be noted that Roland Emmerich is rather creative with the action sequences and the many ways to destroy the White House.

What makes this movie stand out from other action films is the character development. Instead of starting with a big bang the story opens by giving you a glimpse of each character’s life. John Cale, the divorced dad trying to make a better life for himself and his 11-year-old daughter, manages to swing an interview with Secret Service. Unfortunately, the interview doesn’t go as planned and John looks to be left with his Capital Police gig.

While touring the White House with his daughter the Capital Building is blown up as a distraction for the bad guys to take over the White House. At first the motives of the bad guys isn’t clear which adds a nice mystery to the plot.

The bad guys are organized by a White House insider, the muscle is played by Jason Clarke, and the hacker played by Jimmi Simpson. Each of these characters are interesting and almost makes you like the bad guys — almost.

Overall White House Down is a fun, action packed movie that will not disappoint movie goers. It is filled with perfectly placed one liners to make even the most perilous of situations a little funny. White House Down also carries a PG-13 rating which means the language is minimal and the deaths aren’t so graphic making the movie slightly more teen/family friendly.

One last thing: Some might feel the need to compare White House Down to Olympus Has Fallen. These two films share little except the concept of the White House being taken over. Both movies stand on their own, in our opinion.

Grade: A-

Rated: PG-13 for prolonged sequences of action and violence including intense gunfire and explosions, some language and a brief sexual image.

White House Down opens on June 28.