HE WHO DARES: DOWNING STREET SIEGE (2014)

He Who Dares: Downing Street Siege (2014)
Directed by: Paul Tanter
Written by: Jonathan Westwood, Paul Tanter, Simon Phillips
Starring: Russell Kilmister, Simon Phillips, Tom Benedict Knight

HE WHO DARES: DOWNING STREET SIEGE (2014)
Directed by Paul Tanter

After rescuing the kidnapped Prime Minister’s daughter Alice on Christmas Eve, Major Christopher Lowe is instructed to attend 10 Downing Street in London to receive the verdict on his actions from his superiors. With a less than ideal rescue mission which saw him ignore command from his superior and ended with the deaths of all his comrades, Christopher is discharged from the army. However, his presence may be needed more than ever when Holt, the terrorist behind the kidnapping of Alice, appears at No 10 with armed backup, intent on fleecing the government out of over 100 million pounds and leaving no survivors.

British crime thriller He Who Dares: Downing Street Siege is helmed by Paul Tanter who’s known for his other crime Brit flicks The Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligan and The Fall of the Essex Boys. Cast in the roll of the villain is Tanter regular Simon Phillips as Holt, a criminal with big bucks on his mind who treats the the siege like a game without any care in the world of the lives he and his team exterminate. Unhinged Holt even jokes his way throughout the film as though the siege is a performance piece or entertainment for the masses. However, he doesn’t bank on Christopher Lowe being in the building who’s ready to take him down for the second time.

The film is actually a sequel to HE WHO DARES, also directed by Tanter, which I haven’t seen. Despite my lack of knowledge of the previous film, the movie does a good job of catching the viewer up on the prior kidnapping of the Prime Minister’s daughter. Both Tom Benedict Knight as Lowe and Simon Phillips as Holt return for their roles in this sequel, to maintain continuity of the story.

Tom Benedict Knight does a great job as Lowe and looks the part as an SAS soldier with his athletic physique but unfortunately he isn’t allowed to shine in this movie. When it boils down to it, those who are meant to be protecting No 10 do a rubbish job as they allow Holt’s men to storm in effortlessly, despite they themselves being armed. In reality, I find it hard to believe that the security at Downing Street would be that weak. When the table is turned later on in the film and Holt’s men are the ones being picked off, Lowe manages to dispatch them without much effort. I get that he’s meant to be a skilled officer, but the way in which they are killed seems too easy. My biggest niggle of all though is that a female baddie in the film manages to send Lowe to his feet and repeatedly get the better of him despite hardly hitting him and being a smaller size to him yet out-muscling him. As someone who trains in self defence, it pains me to see fight choreography like this. The takedowns on screen were weak and in reality would not work, yet a woman who’s a few good stone lighter than her male opposition manages to bring him to his knees using strength rather than leverage. Even the kicks were mediocre yet seemed to deal a great amount of pain. All this because they want to show women as being as strong and powerful as men, but in this respect, they’ve got it all wrong.

With shaky camera work in places, a weak script and plot with mixed quality performances, He Who Dares: Downing Street Siege leaves a lot to be desired. With more focus on presentation, such as visual filters, editing and style, instead of substance, script and plot, the film fails to present a story the viewer can believe in.

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