Live Free or Die Hard (2007)

Dec 02, 2007 14:49





The Cast
Bruce Willis ... Det. John McClane
Timothy Olyphant ... Thomas Gabriel
Justin Long ... Matthew Farrell
Maggie Q ... Mai Lihn
Cliff Curtis ... Deputy Director Miguel Bowman
Jonathan Sadowski ... Trey
Andrew Friedman ... Casper
Kevin Smith ... Frederick Kaludis - 'Warlock'
Yorgo Constantine ... Robert Russo
Cyril Raffaelli ... Rand
Chris Palermo ... Del
Mary Elizabeth Winstead ... Lucy McClane

There are many reasons why I didn't brave the summer movie crowds to go see Die Hard 4 when it came out back in July. Firstly, duh, summer movie crowds are not fun and I generally hate people. Secondly, well there were a few flashier movies that were getting more press and - in some instances - surprisingly good reviews. Third, I figured I was going to buy it on DVD when it came out anyways, so there would be no real reason to pay for it twice. Fourth, well I just didn't like the idea of a PG-13 rated Die Hard movie, no matter how bad ass it looked. Thankfully when it was recently released on DVD, it was in an Unrated package, with the option to view the theatrical version as well. But really, fuck that nonsense idea Fox Studios, I'll stick with my bad words and violence, thanks.

It's 19 years after the first Die Hard, and John McClane (Willis) is now a Detective with the NYPD and sort of stalking his now older and hotter daughter Lucy (Winstead). After the FBI Cyber Crimes division is briefly hacked, McClane is asked to bring in one of the suspected hackers for questioning, and once again it's a case of the wrong place wrong time for John McClane. In the midst of picking up the hacker Matthew Farrell (Long), well it turns out that Farrell was involved in something far deadlier than hacking the FBI Cyber Crimes division, because soon an attempt on Farrell's life is made and John McClane is back to his begrudgingly ass-kicking self.

As with every Die Hard movie, there's a charismatically evil leader behind all the mysteriousness, and Die Hard 4.0 (the preferred title by everyone except Fox Studios apparently) gives us the tech genius Thomas Gabriel (Olyphant) and his ridiculously hot girlfriend / second-in-command, Mai Lihn (Maggie Q). Gabriel's whole plan of destroying the United States to save it from itself (or whatever villainous reasoning he gives) is both ridiculous and frightening, and unfortunately paints the character as more of a maniacal terrorist than the calculating person that he is. Which leads to the movie having more of a "John McClane and the Good Ol' US of A against Terrorists" feel to it. I tend to ignore all of that jingoistic nonsense with movies, unless it's just so completely overbearing that it makes me nauseous.

Since I only watched the Unrated version, I can say that the film captures the spirit and character of the first three Die Hard movies admirably well. There's foul language, huge explosions and violence (which are A-OK for PG-13 just no potty words or boobies), and the same old(er) John McClane, doing what he has to do because he has to, not because he wants to. A few of the fight scenes were pretty hardcore, with Maggie Q giving and taking just like one of the dudes. Nothing on the level of the Bourne movies, but better than your average cookie-cutter action flick. Which is essentially what the Die Hard franchise is all about: better than average action flicks. Die Hard 4.0 isn't the best in the series, but it's not the worst either, and I found that to be the most surprisingly thing of all. I mean really, Len Wiseman made that horrible Underworld movie, who knew he could handle the Die Hard franchise ably well?

4 / 5

Related Reviews
Die Hard (1988)
Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990)
Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)

timothy_olyphant, movies, cliff_curtis, mary_elizabeth_winstead, justin_long, bruce_willis, kevin_smith, die_hard, maggie_q

Previous post Next post
Up