A Good Day to Die Hard Review

Let me just preface this whole article by saying: I really enjoyed Live Free or Die Hard. I thought it was a great installment in the Die Hard franchise and was really fun. It wasn't as good as Die Hard, I mean, what is? But it was pretty close to the quality of Die Hard with a Vengeance. I even enjoyed Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. No, it wasn't a great movie, but it held true to the feel of the other two quality Indiana Jones films (I say two because Temple of Doom sucks.) Feel free to hate me for those two things if you want, but I hope you'll still read this review, or not...whatever you want.

When they announced they were making another Die Hard film, I was honestly kind of excited. I knew nothing about the plot or where it would go, but I knew that John McClane would get himself into some crazy shenanigans, as always. I knew he would say his class line, and I knew it would be badass. Sadly, I was completely wrong. 

This movie felt nothing like anything that defines the previous Die Hard films. I say that because, while the other four films feel different (except maybe 1 and 2, which have a similar feel/concept...but one of them failed) they carry a very similar theme throughout. The first three films showed that, while John McClane is completely badass, he is still human. They showed that he can do crazy shit, but he still gets hurt (usually physically, but also emotionally.) The fourth film started to stray a little from that, but kept close enough that I really didn't mind. It had a slightly ridiculous quality to it, but was still quite enjoyable. This movie was just John McClane being invincible. Nothing could stop this man. Man? I guess in this movie he felt more like a God.

Another thing that really distances this film from the previous set is the lack of a great main villain. Die Hard had Alan Rickman (HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANSSSSSS!), Die Hard with a Vengeance had Jeremy Irons, and Live Free or Die Hard had Timothy Olyphant. These movies all had really strong antagonists that Bruce Willis got to quip with and it just felt right. This movie just has a slew of nameless Russians that just suck. I think one of them is called "the Dancing man" or some shit. And there is some hot Russian lady. But really, they are all completely forgettable. 

This film had almost no story to it. I know you aren't supposed to complain about the story in an action movie (see The Expendables if you don't believe me), but I think a huge strength of this franchise has been the great story and dialogue. This movie didn't contain either. At a measly 90 minutes, this film was surely 75 minutes of pure action. I had absolutely no idea of any character motivation, or really any time to get to know the new protagonist. This movie was just a bunch of cheesy action scenes where John McClane and son run around with guns and defy certain death. Even McClane's signature line didn't feel right. I'm not surprised, seeing as how this script was written by the same guy that did X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Hitman. Chalk up another dud to Skip Woods. 

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This movie was absolutely horrendous and is a tarnish on the Die Hard franchise. All of the other films were really good action movies and paved the way for some of the more recent action franchises. This movie should never have seen the light of day, not with this awful script, shoddy direction, and campy acting. 

Writing: 1/10

Directing: 3/10

Acting: 4/10

Pacing: 7/10

Rewatchability: 3/10

Score: 3.7/10