Old Friends Die Hard
It's Good to Catch Up with John McClaine

This has been a bad summer. Every potential blockbuster, be it fresh or a rehashed sequel, has left me wanting more. Watching Live Free or Die Hard, the fourth action film to feature John McClaine (Bruce Willis), reminded me of the summer I saw Independence Day -- being blown away by the sheer magnitude of an awesome summer movie. Director Len Wiseman has given action film fans a surprise treat this summer by bringing John McClaine back in style. This is the Die Hard sequel I have waited two decades to see.

Live Free or Die Hard
Bruce Willis is the reluctant everyman hero John McClaine in Live Free or Die Hard. (20th Century Fox, 2007)
Directed by: Len Wiseman
Written by: Mark Bomback
Starring: Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long, Maggie Q, Cliff Curtis, Jonathan Sadowski, Andrew Friedman, and Kevin Smith

Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, language and a brief sexual situation)
Running time: 130 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 8 out of 10.

Live Free or Die Hard is an action movie and a disaster flick in one. The disaster is in the form of a worst-case technology threat. Taking terrorism into the 21st century, a ruthless hacker named Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) brings the infrastructure of the United States to its knees, rerouting control of the transportation and financial systems.

As luck would have it, everyone's favorite NYPD detective John McClaine (Willis) has been dispatched to apprehend a known hacker who may have had some involvement. McClaine arrives to question Matt Farrell (Justin Long) moments before the terrorists arrive to tie up a loose end.

McClaine tries to get Matt from Camden, New Jersey, to Washington, D.C. where the Federal Bureau of Investigations is waiting to interrogate the young hacker. Their arrival in D.C. is barely noticed, however, because the city has been shut down by the first phase of the technology terrorists' "fire sale." While the FBI struggles to keep the country from collapsing, McClaine must escort Matt to Homeland Security. Of course, nothing is ever so easy.

The remainder of the movie is part Die Hard and part 16 Blocks. McClaine plays nursemaid to the witness while trying to keep him alive long enough to catch the bad guys. Along the way, Matt starts to piece together what the terrorists could be trying to accomplish. The two make an uneven team, with Willis pulling the "I'm too old for this" half of the routine. Long gets to play the brains of the operation, while wrestling with his conscience because of his involvement.

Willis is amazing. At the age of 52, the guy is no longer the young man who took on terrorists in the Nakatomi Plaza on that fateful Christmas night. He's a little heavier, has a lot less hair, but he still looks like the kind of bruiser who can go twelve rounds with a guy named "Tiny" and still stand on his own two feet.

The muscle this time around is Mai Lihn (Maggie Q), a computer hacker and martial artist. McClaine goes toe-to-toe with her, but ends up dispatching her utilizing one of his patented "cannon to kill a fly" overkill methods. She's not the only one. McClaine takes out the bad guys in signature fashion, each one bigger and more deadly than the last.

Wiseman (who directed Underworld) directs an action-packed, special effects bonanza. When the audience gets to see a car plunge into a helicopter or watch an SUV fall down an elevator shaft, it's hard to be picky about the fine points of the film.

Nevertheless, there are some problems with the film. Editing is a mess at times, with voice-overs clearly out of synch with the characters. Continuity is somtimes a problem. The plot also has a few holes in it. I seriously doubt that our nation's computer systems could be so easily breached, or that the FBI could be so easily duped several times in one day. However, as Long's character reminded us, "It took FEMA five days to get water to the Superdome."

When I heard they were making a fourth Die Hard movie nearly 20 years after the first one hit theaters, I thought it would be a mistake. I assumed it had to be a desperate attempt by the studio to bring in some quick cash, the kind of low-budget rip-off that usually goes straight to DVD. This movie was so far off my radar, the trailers were in theaters before I even knew it was in production.

Still, I put my away my poor expectations and went to see the movie, hoping for the best but fearing the worst. Maybe my low expectations helped me to appreciate the film. Maybe it was revisiting an old friend that made me feel better. Either way, I'm glad to say that Live Free or Die Hard has renewed my love of summer blockbusters.