Bruce Willis cracks wise. Cars crash. Bullets fly. Things explode spectacularly. If this is what you're expecting from "A Good Day to Die Hard", you won't be disappointed.
It should go without saying that the Die Hard movies aren't exactly Shakespeare. While the first in the series revolutionized the action genre, the title has become a brand name that fans trust, and audiences have a fair idea what to expect with each new entry. Most Bruce Willis movies are carried by the star's charisma and likability, and unlucky NYPD detective John McClane is his quintessential role. While the first two movies were based on separate novels, the third was a finished script tweaked to include the McClane character, and the fourth was a dramatization of an article on cyberterrorism, Skip Woods' script may be the first written intentionally around the hero of the franchise. Not only does it have some nice nods to the previous films, but it hits all the major bullet points of the formula. As always, McClane finds himself in the most dangerous situations when he's off duty ("I'm supposed to be on vacation!" he growls several times when he's held at gunpoint). He gets out of desperate situations by improvising dangerous feats that would make James Bond think twice. Only to begin chastising himself, out loud for the audience's benefit, after he's already taken the plunge and realized what a stupid idea it was.
Unfortunately, the movie lacks a strong villain for McClane to play cat and mouse with. Previous movies had Alan Rickman, Jeremy Irons, and Timothy Olyphant chewing the scenery in that capacity. This time, evil is mainly personified by the forgettable Radivoje Bukvic, but, like William Sadler in "Die Hard 2: Die Harder", he's not as important as the series of plot twists and turns slowly revealing a greater evil at play. Only brief moments of exposition break up the set pieces here, starting with a lengthy car chase, one of the best I've seen in a long time, during which everything you'd want to have happen in a chase scene does. The action moves from the Moscow highway to Chernobyl, packed with exciting pyrotechnics and stunts that look like they'd be fun in real life if it weren't for the fact that they'd maim anyone who hadn't already thwarted major terrorist plots four times before.
This time, McClane learns his estranged son, John "Jack" McClane Jr., is about to stand trial in Moscow. Wanting to reconcile before Jack's thrown in prison, John Sr. makes it to the courtroom right as his son escapes, along with another prisoner awaiting trial (Sebastian Koch).
Mary Elizabeth Winstead returns as John's daughter Lucy. While she doesn't get to see any of the action this time around, she's still great in the role and it's nice to see some continuity with the previous movie from six years ago. Jai Courtney, for his part, does a good job playing McClane's son, sharing his dad's short temper and penchant for yelling at himself when he makes a mistake. But the real stand out is Yuliya Snigir as Irina, the beautiful daughter of Jack's fellow escapee. Big eyed, pouty lipped, and leather clad, Yuliya Snigir is seriously gorgeous and commands more screen presence than any of the other newcomers to the series.
My only real complaint is that the movie ends too quickly. After the story's best plot twist, when the movie seems to be picking up real momentum, the movie reaches its finale at around the length the other Die Hard movies were just gearing up for their third act. The "Yippee- Ki-Yay" catchphrase is thrown in there, and it feels a little too obligatory.
To recap, Bruce Willis does what Bruce Willis does best, the stunts and explosions are thrilling and come non-stop, the script includes some truly surprising twists, and Yuliya Snigir's mouthful of a name is about to become a household one. While "A Good Day to Die Hard" is far from the best in the series, it sure beats most of the alternatives playing in theaters this February.
It should go without saying that the Die Hard movies aren't exactly Shakespeare. While the first in the series revolutionized the action genre, the title has become a brand name that fans trust, and audiences have a fair idea what to expect with each new entry. Most Bruce Willis movies are carried by the star's charisma and likability, and unlucky NYPD detective John McClane is his quintessential role. While the first two movies were based on separate novels, the third was a finished script tweaked to include the McClane character, and the fourth was a dramatization of an article on cyberterrorism, Skip Woods' script may be the first written intentionally around the hero of the franchise. Not only does it have some nice nods to the previous films, but it hits all the major bullet points of the formula. As always, McClane finds himself in the most dangerous situations when he's off duty ("I'm supposed to be on vacation!" he growls several times when he's held at gunpoint). He gets out of desperate situations by improvising dangerous feats that would make James Bond think twice. Only to begin chastising himself, out loud for the audience's benefit, after he's already taken the plunge and realized what a stupid idea it was.
Unfortunately, the movie lacks a strong villain for McClane to play cat and mouse with. Previous movies had Alan Rickman, Jeremy Irons, and Timothy Olyphant chewing the scenery in that capacity. This time, evil is mainly personified by the forgettable Radivoje Bukvic, but, like William Sadler in "Die Hard 2: Die Harder", he's not as important as the series of plot twists and turns slowly revealing a greater evil at play. Only brief moments of exposition break up the set pieces here, starting with a lengthy car chase, one of the best I've seen in a long time, during which everything you'd want to have happen in a chase scene does. The action moves from the Moscow highway to Chernobyl, packed with exciting pyrotechnics and stunts that look like they'd be fun in real life if it weren't for the fact that they'd maim anyone who hadn't already thwarted major terrorist plots four times before.
This time, McClane learns his estranged son, John "Jack" McClane Jr., is about to stand trial in Moscow. Wanting to reconcile before Jack's thrown in prison, John Sr. makes it to the courtroom right as his son escapes, along with another prisoner awaiting trial (Sebastian Koch).
Mary Elizabeth Winstead returns as John's daughter Lucy. While she doesn't get to see any of the action this time around, she's still great in the role and it's nice to see some continuity with the previous movie from six years ago. Jai Courtney, for his part, does a good job playing McClane's son, sharing his dad's short temper and penchant for yelling at himself when he makes a mistake. But the real stand out is Yuliya Snigir as Irina, the beautiful daughter of Jack's fellow escapee. Big eyed, pouty lipped, and leather clad, Yuliya Snigir is seriously gorgeous and commands more screen presence than any of the other newcomers to the series.
My only real complaint is that the movie ends too quickly. After the story's best plot twist, when the movie seems to be picking up real momentum, the movie reaches its finale at around the length the other Die Hard movies were just gearing up for their third act. The "Yippee- Ki-Yay" catchphrase is thrown in there, and it feels a little too obligatory.
To recap, Bruce Willis does what Bruce Willis does best, the stunts and explosions are thrilling and come non-stop, the script includes some truly surprising twists, and Yuliya Snigir's mouthful of a name is about to become a household one. While "A Good Day to Die Hard" is far from the best in the series, it sure beats most of the alternatives playing in theaters this February.