Die Hard 4.0
Die Hard 4.0 (alternate title: Live Free or Die Hard) is actually best action film of the year so far. It’s largely a throw back to the overblown, hyper-destructive action flicks of the 1990s – although with 21st Century inclusions like heavy doses of CGI wizardry and always impressive free-running stunt work.
I’ve never been a massive fan of the Die Hard series. Although I’ve seen all 3 previous films they just never made any real impact on me. This time, though, I received a real sense of why Bruce Willis’s John McClane is such a popular character. It’s largely because he’s the most vulnerable and street-smart of action heroes. McClane’s not just flying fists and shoot outs. He’s a wise-cracking urban survivalist who will use anything at his disposal to come out on top.
Of course, as an ordinary working class guy he lacks a certain finesse in pulling off his moves. It really wouldn’t be a Die Hard film if John McClane didn’t reach the end of the movie without torn, oily clothes, a limp, a few pints less blood and maybe even a couple of bullet wounds. And 52 year old Bruce Willis is still entirely credible in the part.
This time around McClane has cleaned up his act. He’s no longer a grumpy alcoholic with marriage problems. Divorced, clean shaven, all he wants to do is make some kind of connection with his college age daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). But when a routine escort of coding know-it-all Matt Farrell (Justin Long) turns ugly, McClane is pitted against disgruntled super-hacker Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant), who is intent on crippling the United States’ digital backbone. Of course, trusty workhorse McClane makes it his personal responsibility to track down Gabriel, dragging the panicked, unwilling Farrell with him.
Die Hard 4.0 is the latest in a line of films with veteran action heroes returning to the big screen to face off against younger, more techo-savvy opponents. McClane is himself described in the film as “a Timex in a digital age”, and he is the oldest character in the film. But, as Die Hard 4.0 entertainingly proves – via some truly mind-blowing action sequences (involving cars, trucks, helicopters and planes) – sometimes only vintage fists-on, ass-kicking will get the job done.
The only drawback in Die Hard 4.0 is that it can drag a little in parts, normally in lulls between the action where exposition needs to be delivered. Otherwise it’s a highly entertaining few hours that even manages to incorporate the action movie staple of kidnapping the hero’s daughter without making it too clichéd. There’s even a great little cameo by Kevin “Silent Bob” Smith as a geeky, basement dwelling hacker.
If you’re looking for good traditional action fare, then you should choose to Live Free or Die Hard.
I’ve never been a massive fan of the Die Hard series. Although I’ve seen all 3 previous films they just never made any real impact on me. This time, though, I received a real sense of why Bruce Willis’s John McClane is such a popular character. It’s largely because he’s the most vulnerable and street-smart of action heroes. McClane’s not just flying fists and shoot outs. He’s a wise-cracking urban survivalist who will use anything at his disposal to come out on top.
Of course, as an ordinary working class guy he lacks a certain finesse in pulling off his moves. It really wouldn’t be a Die Hard film if John McClane didn’t reach the end of the movie without torn, oily clothes, a limp, a few pints less blood and maybe even a couple of bullet wounds. And 52 year old Bruce Willis is still entirely credible in the part.
This time around McClane has cleaned up his act. He’s no longer a grumpy alcoholic with marriage problems. Divorced, clean shaven, all he wants to do is make some kind of connection with his college age daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). But when a routine escort of coding know-it-all Matt Farrell (Justin Long) turns ugly, McClane is pitted against disgruntled super-hacker Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant), who is intent on crippling the United States’ digital backbone. Of course, trusty workhorse McClane makes it his personal responsibility to track down Gabriel, dragging the panicked, unwilling Farrell with him.
Die Hard 4.0 is the latest in a line of films with veteran action heroes returning to the big screen to face off against younger, more techo-savvy opponents. McClane is himself described in the film as “a Timex in a digital age”, and he is the oldest character in the film. But, as Die Hard 4.0 entertainingly proves – via some truly mind-blowing action sequences (involving cars, trucks, helicopters and planes) – sometimes only vintage fists-on, ass-kicking will get the job done.
The only drawback in Die Hard 4.0 is that it can drag a little in parts, normally in lulls between the action where exposition needs to be delivered. Otherwise it’s a highly entertaining few hours that even manages to incorporate the action movie staple of kidnapping the hero’s daughter without making it too clichéd. There’s even a great little cameo by Kevin “Silent Bob” Smith as a geeky, basement dwelling hacker.
If you’re looking for good traditional action fare, then you should choose to Live Free or Die Hard.
Comments
As for the story dragging. i don't know if you share this feeling but i felt like the parts between the action where the same like in a video game. "You have reached the next level, power up and buy stuff" :p
And RC, I don't know whether it's everyone wanting the Timex to win as much as it is Hollywood's "older guard" and the Baby Boomer generation who are starting to feel a little past it and want to show they're still "contenders" :)