Gerard Butler’s 2019 flop Angel Has Fallen has inexplicably begun rising up the ranks of Netflix’s most-watched.
Starring Nick Nolte and Morgan Freeman, the action-packed adventure film with Butler at the helm was released six years ago and met with a lot of criticism from reviewers.
The film is the third instalment in the ‘Has Fallen’ franchise, following Olympus Has Fallen in 2013 and London Has Fallen in 2016.
It was slammed upon its release, with Rotten Tomatoes giving the movie just a 38% ranking.
This falls right in the middle of its predecessors, with Olympus Has Fallen earning a 50% rank and London Has Fallen earning 28%
Despite being pretty heavily panned, the movie was a box office smash, making $146.7 million (£114 million) at the box office against a budget of $40 million (331.2 million).
The synopsis of the film reads: ‘Authorities take Secret Service agent Mike Banning into custody for the failed assassination attempt of U.S. President Allan Trumbull.
‘After escaping from his captors, Banning must evade the FBI and his own agency to find the real threat to the president.
‘Desperate to uncover the truth, he soon turns to unlikely allies to help clear his name and save the country from imminent danger.’
Scathing reviews were released as soon as the film debuted, with many pointing out the mindless action.
‘It presumes itself an intricate and intense thriller, and yet I predicted every plot point, from the real culprit(s) to upcoming lines of dialogue, so effortlessly that I may as well not have even bothered seeing the film before reviewing it,’ said Calum Cooper for Source Scotland.
‘Silly plot contrivances and head-scratching character decisions end up standing out more than the action. And for a movie like this, that’s not a good thing,’ said Keith Garlington for Keith & the Movies.
However, there were some positive reviews for the film.
‘When it comes to big-screen meat-and-potatoes action, Butler has carved out a nice niche for himself, and as solid as Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen were, this third installment is easily the best,’ said Jim Schembri for 3AW.
‘During the brief moments when Butler is given something to work with, it’s clear he’s a charming and entertaining performer. Then it’s back to the killing,’ said Anthony Morris at ScreenHub.
This isn’t the first time that films that were critically panned have found a new audience on Netflix.
Don’t Worry Darling, starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, was met with a mixed response when it was released in 202,2, but found success on the streaming platform when it was released earlier this month.
Fans loved the twisty movie, and it also soared to the top 10 on the streaming charts.
Venom: The Last Dance also soared to the top spot on Netflix’s global charts in March 2025, despite being met with a wave of dismal reviews.
The film was previously called an ‘absolute car crash of a film,’ but delighted viewers when it was first launched on the platform less than a year after its initial release.
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