Die Hard 4.0
Thursday, 05 Jul 2007 17:49
Bruce Willis on the look out for more of those pesky cyber criminals
Directed by Len Wiseman, out July 4th in cinemas, starring Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Maggie Q, running time 129 minutes.
In a nutshell…
Blunt, crude, loud, impressive, action.
What's it all about?
Die Hard 4.0 is the long-awaited fourth instalment in the John McClane saga; a cop who's always in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Like previous Die Hards, McClane (Bruce Willis) finds himself charged with a simple task only to inadvertently become enveloped in a mass terrorist plot where only his unflinching stamina and brutality will prevent disaster.
This time around McClane's prisoner pick-up ends up being a vital tool in a fight to prevent a dangerous cyber terrorist from crippling the US and holding it to ransom. He ends up fighting gangs of acrobatic bad guys, driving cars through computer installations, taking on helicopters with no gun and generally causing havoc for those calm, sophisticated henchmen.
This is another all-action Die Hard film; enjoyable from the moment go as long as you can smile at some of the bits you know can't be taken seriously.
Who's in it?
Bruce Willis is John McClane, his signature character who has taken on a tower block of terrorists (Die Hard), an airport of terrorists (Die Hard 2) and a city full of terrorists (Die Hard with a Vengeance). This time around, McClane find himself in a number of states and in Washington DC for a time.
Justin Long is entertaining as Matt Farrell, the cyber geek that McClain must protect in order to stop the cyber criminal Thomas Gabriel, played by Timothy Olyphant.
Maggie Q stars as Mai Linh, Gabriel's sidekick (in more ways than one) and girlfriend. Her sequence fighting with McClain is a great moment.
Finally Mary Elizabeth Winstead is well cast as Lucy McClane, John's daughter who's learnt the language and general bellicosity of her father.
As an example…
Farrell: "You killed a helicopter with a car!"
McClain: "I was out of bullets."
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars
This film isn't breaking any boundaries and won't be gracing any award ceremonies. This is a people's film, a feel-good action movie re-treading the previous Die Hards.
What the others say
"The result of Len Wiseman's [director] efforts twins ludicrously stupendous popcorn movie action with a smartly chilling concept." - Empire
So is it any good?
Die Hard 4.0 does not disappoint and manages to become highly topical for a franchise which began two decades ago. The cyber element - with bad guys tapping on keyboards rather than triggers - seemed a little far-fetched at first, but ended up working well when you got used to the serious subject the script was trying to broach.
Willis is great as McClain, the kind of character you can't not like with his quick, blunt put downs and cocky swagger. "Hey d******d," when he answers the phone top a bad guy always raises a smile, as does the famous "yippee-ki-yay", which he saves till late on.
Having Long as a sparring partner works well and he plays the character like a fan of the movies getting to drive around with McClain all day, which works well.
At times Willis look slightly less mobile than before, but then again, McClain is older. It doesn't feel like a film franchise resurrected, kind of like Rocky Balboa did, and is more like a natural progression.
Die Hard 4.0 does what Lethal Weapon 4 did, only better. It doesn't break any boundaries, but it makes for four great films that you can now watch back-to-back.
Yippee-ki-yay.
McClain near-death experiences rating 7/10
Bad guy battering rating 9/10
Actual film rating 8/10
Karl Pike
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