LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD (2007) (**)
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.