A Good
Day To Die Hard
It's not Valentine's Day unless Bruce Willis is shooting something, so
welcome to A Good Day To Die Hard.
Willis is back as John McClane. His son, Jack (Jai Courtney), is in big
time trouble as he finds himself in a Russian prison with orders to
eliminate a mysterious billionaire and political prisoner, Komarov
(Sebastian Koch), before he testifies in court and unveils horrifying
secrets about the incoming Prime Minister, Chagarin (Sergei
Kolesnikov).
Of course, John heads off to Moscow to save the day, or save his kid,
finds himself in the middle of it all by accident, and needs to help
his son complete his mission.
Does this movie even have a writer?
I know that sounds like a strange question, but A Good Day To Die
Hard is one of those movies where everyone involved in making it
feels the plot just gets in the way. Director John Moore, whose last
film was the Mark "Don't Call Me Marky Mark" Wahlberg opus Max Payne,
is more than happy to fill the movie with as many explosions, car
chases, crashes, helicopter acrobatics and gun fights as he can, all
with increasing levels of volume at every turn. Then, someone has
Willis toss in a quick wisecrack every once in a while to remind us
he's in the movie.
Dialogue is just a way to give us a short explanation why we have to
get in the car to start the car chase or why there is a helicopter on
the landing pad, so we won't be completely shocked when the shooting
begins. Even Willis barely can speak the classic line Yippe-Ki-Yay
Mother$#!&#!@ without some contempt and realization it is
completely perfunctory. It doesn't even make sense why he would say it
in that moment, and you get the sense Willis knows that.
And, John McClane is just along for the ride. For most of the film,
he's an observer. The story is all about his son and this convoluted
story about the billionaire trying to retrieve some file with damning
evidence to take down the Prime Minister. John just shoots, and
crashes, and makes his wisecracks, but doesn't really become a central
part of A Good Day To Die Hard until maybe halfway through.
A Good Day To Die Hard has plenty of action
for those craving it, but not much else.
A Good Day To Die Hard is rated R for violence
and language
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