Roland Emmerich’s White House Down, however, owes more of a debt to the big, brash and dumb action films of the ’90s than anything released this year. Die Hard, in particular, is the main source of inspiration, but there are healthy dashes of Con Air and Air Force One in there, too.

The plot follows Channing Tatum’s John Cale, a Capitol Police Officer who’s hoping to impress his estranged daughter (Joey King) by landing a job in the Secret Service at the White House. Sadly for him, old college friend Carol Finnerty (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is the one interviewing him, and – knowing Cale’s penchant for not following through on things, and his general lack of respect – denies him.

When a group of terrorists (including Jason Clarke, Kevin Rankin and Jimmi Simpson) take over the White House, Cale gets the chance to prove himself, and must get his daughter and the president (Jamie Foxx) to safety.

Jamie Foxx does his best Barack Obama as the affable president Sawyer, while Channing Tatum does his best Channing Tatum as heroic Cale. Once, Tatum was a fairly boring, wooden leading man (see: The Eagle), but since taking on more light-hearted roles he’s found a more suitable niche.

Donning the requisite white vest, Tatum is likable, and fits the one-man-army role well, jumping over things dramatically at every opportunity. There’s solid support from the likes of James Woods, Lance Reddick and Richard Jenkins too.

Behind the camera Emmerich continues his career-long vendetta against the White House with relish. His slick direction takes the action to every nook and cranny of the President’s residence (and blows most of it up), and he keeps things pacy and exciting throughout.

He also ensures that at no point do you take things seriously. The whole affair is very tongue in cheek. At one point, there’s a car chase on the White House lawn, during which the President of the United States fires an RPG out of a moving vehicle. That’s not something you can take seriously, and thankfully, Emmerich and company don’t kid themselves that anyone might; it’s clearly a laughable moment, but everyone’s in on the joke.

Joey King as the young Emily Cale – a conveniently politically, White-House obsessed child – stays just the right side of irritating, while there’s some classic action-film comic-relief in the shape of a White House tour-guide caught up in the action.

The machinations of the plot itself bear some relevance to the current situation with Syria, but that’s likely an accident – there’s little of substance here. On the whole it’s throwaway fluff, and if you start thinking about it, it’ll fall apart. Thankfully the frequency of cheesy one-liners and exciting set-pieces means that you’ll rarely have time to stop and think.

It’s a ridiculous, ludicrous film, but above all else; it’s an outrageous amount of fun. These sorts of light-hearted, preposterous action films have fallen out of favour of late, but White House Down proves that when done well, there’s little better in terms of pure entertainment.

Released in UK cinemas on Friday 13 September 2013.