More than just a pretty face...

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2005)

Although slightly dated perhaps, but only perhaps, this movie will satisfy most people looking for an action film with a solid, edgy, story. Willis has a good track record for picking exactly that combination, hence his success. But that is not the reason for these remarks. I direct your attention to a scene in the movie on an elevator when our hero is confronted with one of the baddest of the bad guys in the movie. It's here that you see that the man can act, that he is more than an appealing action hero, that the casting agents over the years weren't taking the easy way out, that he can contribute more to a project than just his wry smiling persona. The scene I'm referring to could have easily been an overplayed feeling of mental torture, but it was more of a controlled torture, it was barely concealed anguish in its most subtle, but absolutely clear human form. It was an anguished conversation where the anguish could not be revealed, so as to not put the character in the story at risk. But somehow it was there for the audience to see and appreciate, maybe because the viewer knows any normal person would have felt that way under the circumstances. In fact, he spent much of the film terrified WHILE ALSO being determined. Die Hard was exactly that, a prolonged variation from the scene on the elevator and a combination of emotions that when well acted, are compelling, captivating, and when played out with someone like Willis and the well crafted action material that he often does for movies, is absolutely entertaining.