The wonder and amazement of
John McClane was how a normal, everyday guy could be riffing on
one-liners and
cheesy comebacks while taunting terrorists trying to blow him up. Now, while I admire the
way they blow stuff
up, Live
Free or Die Hard is just like every movie where they blow
stuff up,
just with some nostalgia thrown in.
Bruce Willis is back as NYPD
Detective John McClane - a guy who always ends up in the wrong place at
the
wrong time, but saves a whole bunch of people while doing it (the
reluctant
hero who finally gets morally and ethically offended enough to start
kicking
some booty). Now,
he has been ordered to
Camden, NJ to
find a computer hacker, Matt Farrell (Justin Long), who is part of an
FBI sweep
to pick up possible leads and accessories to a growing cyber-attack on U.S.
infrastructure,
utilities, law enforcement and more.
Of
course, McClane soon discovers Matt is more involved than anyone ever
thought,
and he is one of the computer hackers targeted for elimination by the
leader of
the cyber-attack, Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant).
Now, McClane must protect Farrell, get the
kid to spill his guts on what is really happening, and try to take out
Gabriel.
Will John McClane be able to
save the day? What do the terrorists want?
At times, Live
Free or Die Hard is so over the top and silly
the movie borders on campy. Then,
it blows right through the campy border
with an 18-wheel semi truck. Director
Len Wiseman is so busy trying to prove he can carry the mantle for Die Hard
that he doesn’t focus enough on making a good movie. Sure, he blows stuff up in
cool and exciting
ways, and knows how to focus the camera on Willis as McClane spouts off
with
another witty retort (which brings the movie up to mediocre, but
entertaining
levels), but Live
Free or Die Hard slogs through from explosion to
explosion.
Writer Mark Bomback
doesn’t
try to do anything original with the dialogue, throws in some
half-hearted
attempts at creating a cliché inter-agency rivalry, and
takes away from the Die
Hard formula by sending McClane and Farrell all over the
mid-Atlantic instead
of having McClane trapped in one place with his nemesis, which, again,
makes
Live
Free or Die Hard like any other action movie. He does a good job
building up McClane as a
man out of time and out of his element in this modern world, but
that’s not
always a good thing.
Willis doesn’t have
the same
energy and exasperation we remember fondly from the first couple Die Hard
movies. While I can
understand he needs
to show us how that crazy guy has grown, matured, and gotten a little
slower in
the last 20 years like all of us have and will, it just helps point out
why we
don’t need another Die Hard
movie. When
you get half of the hero you used to love, it’s like watching
your favorite
baseball player on Old Timers Day.
He’s
got the same name, wears the same uniform and moves kind of like you
remember,
but much slower as the other players humor him and give him a pity home
run.
Then, Olyphant is a decent
actor in general, but comes off more like a mean and pissed off Ryan
Seacrest
in Live
Free or Die Hard.
He’s too
pretty to be imposing and evil, so it feels forced and like he is way
out of
his league when trying to do battle with McClane. Instead of being
scary, he's stiff.
Live
Free or Die Hard will
make you laugh at times, and excite you at times with the action, but
it’s not
what you might hope it will be.
1 ½
Waffles (Out of 4)
Live
Free or Die Hard is
rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, language and
a brief sexual situation.
Copyright
2007 - WaffleMovies.com
