222. Die Hard 2 (1990)

May 19, 2013 18:09

Another basement, another elevator. How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice?

Title: Die Hard 2
Date Watched: 5/18/2013
Original Ranking Out of 10: 8
Revised Ranking Out of 10: 7

Synopsis: John McClaine is back to save an airport from a terrorist take-over.

The Good: Some great set-pieces and nobody -- I mean nobody -- directs an explosion better than Renny Harlin. Although there are several tongue-in-cheek comments that suggest otherwise, this is, for the most part, not a retread of the first movie. Instead, it takes a few of the characters and puts them in a new setting against a new baddie. Good choice.

The Bad: Kind of dumb. Kind of cheesy.

Why Do I Own This Movie?: Die Hard Collection from Amazon.

Should I Still Own This Movie?: Yes.

What Did I Notice That I Didn't Notice Before?: Stunt man, again, looks nothing like Bruce Willis. Also, there's an advertisement for Lethal Weapon 2 in a magazine that somebody's reading. I always thought that the Die Hard and Lethal Weapon series are sort of two sides of the same coin -- awesome 80's action movies with a few too many sequels.

Other Impressions: I'm kind of a big fan of the second Die Hard movie. I probably even prefer it to the first one, though I'm not as crazy about the first one as most people are. It's supposed to be the mother of all action movies and, don't get me wrong, it's pretty damn good, but it just doesn't wow me the same way that, say, Lethal Weapon or Speed do. Different kinds of movies affect us all differently and to each their own.

Die Hard 2 really strengthened the John McClaine persona. In the later movies, he's too much of a cartoon and, in a way, the first Die Hard is almost like his origin story. Here, he's an average guy who will rise to the occasion and, sure, he does a bunch of things throughout this movie that I'm sure I couldn't do, but it's still within the realm of believable. Eh. Mostly.

The plot is probably a little too twisty this time around, sort of turning into one of those conspiracy movies where everybody is in on it except for the hero and the villain planned for every possibility, except for at the very end when he gets lazy. Silly stuff when you stop to think about it, but I guess you could say that about pretty much any action movie.

I suppose the editing could have been tighter here -- the movie's probably too long at over two hours, but, eh, what the hell, if you're watching Die Hard 2, it's not like you have anywhere else you need to be. It's no cinematic masterpiece, but it's a pretty good action movie that delivers all the beats that we expect, though maybe a little bit better than we're used to seeing them.

The List

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