Live Free or Die Hard stars Bruce Willis as the aged cop John McClane. Let us begin with a “Hell Yeah” alright I may have been in diapers when the first Die Hard came out but that doesn’t mean that I don’t love these films. Bruce Willis is pretty mcuh the last action hero and he’s back. This film is so fresh in the days where fight scenes look more like ballets then the grittiness that they should be. Die hard reminds us that fighting it’s pretty it’s brutal. What I am amazed at is that in a summer plagued by CGI, it turns out the best action so far has come from film that went back to the basics.
The story this time around is it’s years later and Bruce has been having a pretty normal life. Just being an average cop until he is sent on a babysiting mission to get a hacker. Well quickly it turns out this hack Matt Ferrall (Justin Long) is caught up in a Firesale. Which is a 3 step plan to whiping out society as we know it. We find ou that Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) is the mastermind and McClane and Ferrall go on a mission to bring him down and save the country.
Most the performances where well done and Justion Long was able to hold his own alongside the seasoned Bruce Willis. Even Kevin Smith’s small role was impressive. While Timothy Olyphant gave a servicable performace as Thomas Gabriel he also ended up being the weakest of the Die Hard villians. When your competition is Alan Rickman and Jeromy Irons it can be hard to follow up.
Live Free Die Hard is the best pure action film of the season. No melodrama spidey, or spread to thin pirates, it was Die Hard that subdued my appetite for action.
Bottom Line: The pure action film of the summer so far. If you’ve been disappointed by this summer as I have then this might just be the fix you need.
1-10: 8
