When I heard from more than one person that this film was better than the original DIE HARD, I couldn't believe it. When I heard a few critics say it was the best sequel, I thought that was a more reasonable assessment. Now after actually seeing the film, my only suggestion is that all those above people go back and see the original film, because they have forgotten what makes an action movie good.
This time around John McClane is an over-protective father spying on his college-aged daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, SKY HIGH). After a cyber attack on the federal government, local police departments are asked to bring in suspect hackers. McClane is asked to pick up Matthew Farrell (Justin Long, DODGEBALL) and bring him to Washington D.C. But as things are for John McClane, an easy task is never easy. He must first save Farrell from assassins and a bomb in the young man's apartment. But the killers won't stop. Led by Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant, HITMAN), the bad guys have used hackers to shut down the U.S. infrastructure and financial records. Farrell knows too much and they want him dead. McClane makes the fight personal, so Gabriel follows suit by kidnapping Lucy.
John McClane isn't John McClane in this film. He cracks wise like McClane, but McClane was never a superhero. The first two installments worked so well because it was a story about a good cop doing his job well to save the day against a host of equally matched bad guys. Gone is the one-upmanship, because McClane needs Farrell to explain to him the details of the terrorists' cyber plot. Having an old school cop up against technologically advanced villains isn't a bad idea, but ideas aren't what this film is about. The technological spin is just window dressing for one action sequence after another. McClane had to use his brains to win in the other films; here he's just muscle. Each action sequence builds and builds in absurdity till the point where we don't care anymore, because we never fear for McClane's failure because he is no longer human when he is running down the wing of a jet, he is Superman and there is no Kryptonite in sight.
Old franchises can often breathe new life into new adventures by giving the hero a great new adversary. Gabriel is not Hans Gruber (Olyphant isn't Alan Rickman either). I've read a lot of praise for Gabriel's henchmen/lover Mai Lihn, played by Maggie Q (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III), but she's just a fighting machine. The first film gave character to the henchmen; this film only gives them choreography. Franchises often show that they are desperate for new ideas when they strap a lone wolf with a sidekick. McClane shouldn't be Batman in the first place, and he certainly doesn't need a Robin.
Director Len Wisemen (UNDERWORLD) brings his exaggerated action style to a franchise that was best when the action was at least plausible and took place in confined spaces. Having McClane running and flying all over the East Coast, rids the franchise of its claustrophobic tension. I will admit that the car stunts in the tunnel and the attack on the helicopter were cool, but they're better suited for a something that doesn't want to be taken realistically at all. The over-the-top action sequences are in contrast with the realistic details of the cyber attack.
Outside of the name this has nothing in common with the original DIE HARD. Though DIE HARD 2 recycled many of the plot points from the original and rode on a great deal of coincidence, at least it understood what made the original a smart, fun thrill ride. In trying to amp up the action and turn this franchise into a summer spectacle, LIVE FREE dies hard.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
