Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
[Die Hard 4.0]
Director: Len Wiseman
Starring: Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant
Synopsis:
John McClane escorts a hacker to DC amid a massive cyberterrorism attack that brings the US to its knees.
Impressions:
I really didn't like this movie when I first saw it, so I wasn't looking forward to rewatching it for review purposes. However, giving it a second look, it's not quite as abysmal as I remember. I liked how one person characterized it as a generic Bruce Willis action movie rather than a proper Die Hard. At the time, I joined the chorus denouncing the movie's poor grasp of how the Internet actually works, but to be honest, they actually get more things right than you'd like to give them credit for, things like social engineering and such. I'm not much of a fan of Justin Long as the unwitting sidekick and I find Timothy Olyphant to be a mixed bag as the main villain. I did enjoy Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lucy, Kevin Smith as Warlock and Maggie Q as the dark action girl Mai. While there is quite a bit of violence, the movie does pull its punches a bit to satisfy a PG-13 rating, to include cutting off McClane's catchphrase. (There one infuriating scene where it seems like McClane cold-bloodedly blows away a mook only to reveal he hasn't and he even tells the mook, "I'll call a doctor." John-frickin'-McClane, the guy who murdered a scrawny nerd then sent his corpse back to his brother with a taunting message written in the kid's own blood. Steams my clams.) There are some decent set pieces and others that are just too over-the-top for the series, like the F-35 sequence. Speaking of those big set pieces, the CG isn't great, which detracts further. While the bad parts of movie are worse than the average of the sequel, there are some highlights to offset it, which beats the consistently miserable experience of AGDtDH. As such, I'm just barely endorsing the slim possibility you might want to watch it. For die-hard fans (heh) of the series, though, you'll want to pass on this.
Rating:
50/50