Live Free or Die Hard is the long awaited, fourth installment of the Die Hard series, the fierce action history of the iconic detective John McClane. Director Len Wiseman breathes life into the screenplay based on a story written by Mark Bomback and David Marconi. There’s never much of a plot in a Die Hard movie, but as far as Live Free goes, this is what substitutes for a story: It’s the Fourth of July, and tech savvy bad guy, Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant), and his computer geek entourage are planning a devastating digital shut down of the United States. This proposed “fire sale” where “all things must go” is a testament to our society’s increasing vulnerability in an age run by computers. Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) gets sucked into the action by the seemingly mundane; a routine mission to escort a Camden-based computer hacker (Justin Long) to visit the Feds in DC turns into an unwittingly heroic quest to foil the nation-wide attack, which gets all too personal when McClane’s daughter, Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), is taken hostage.
There’s nothing too deep or impressive about this flick, which probably qualifies it as a Die Hard fan’s delight; there is, after all, a lot of great action and an incredibly hot bad girl played by Mai Lihn. Hardcore aerial helicopter shots and trademark car carnage seal the deal. I was pretty impressed by the tunnel action scene towards the beginning of the film; my only complaint is that incredible scenes like this one don’t get nearly the time they deserve and are sacrificed to a lot of less-than-captivating scenes which could be cut from the movie entirely.
And, of course, I feel more than compelled to mention the Kevin Smith cameo as ‘Warlock’ which is absolutely priceless.
There are a lot of fantastic death scenes that are just plain ruined by corny quips, mere shadows of McClane’s famous one liners. “That’s gonna wake the neighbors”; I grimaced here when McClane spoiled the fantastic after effect of a terrorist bad guy thrown from a window and plastered onto a car. Of course, the whole appeal of the Die Hard films is that the hero isn’t a superhero – just your ordinary Joe who doesn’t take any. There’s a certain relatable humility that McClane’s character has got to maintain in order to keep that same Die Hard spirit alive, but there’s a fine line between laughing with and at a character. A lot of his dialog is awkward, and even though McClane is endearing as the analog dude in the digital world, sometimes the tough guy act falls short of even the rotary. I wish, just once or twice after he messes someone up, McClane would keep his mouth shut and just…stare.
I’ve got to say, Bruce Willis looks old; his previous stint as McClane was over a decade ago. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There’s something to that Arnold Schwarzenegger / Bruce Willis effect, where an actor only gets more awesome with age. Old men look pretty badass in leather. I’d say though, that after Live Free or Die Hard, Willis should go quietly.
Liz Licorish
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