It's conventional but we still love it

Rating: 9/10 (17 August 2006)

In many people's minds the term 'action thriller' is defined as predictable, over exaggerated and boring.
I tend to agree the majority of the time, especially after watching films like 'Mission impossible II' and 'James Bond' where the predictability was as present as Bond's sarcasm, ridiculously predictable and unrealistic.
Thankfully director John McTiernan was able to add a likable quality to the genre Bruce Willis stars in this 1988 smash hit action thriller which does contain a lot of typical action thriller conventions but why do we criticise? We see him running around Nakatomi towers and with his cheeky attitude and delivering cheesy but hilarious quotes, I found myself appreciating the character and the genre.
What was predictable was having many gun scenes which were unrealistic but that is always expected of this genre. Thankfully Die Hard doesn't reach to the extremes as MI2 does and the majority of gun fights and character action codes are believable but ARE enjoyable. Viewers are able to associate with the central protagonist John McClane who is sarcy and purely likable, I found it impossible to hate him. The bad mouthed cop is always on the move and willing to conform to the ideologies which director John McTiernan set, and are pulled off beautifully.
Alan Rickman is astonishing as the head terrorist Hans Gruber. His evilness is forever present as he controls the role beautiful with his established role and his cheekiness is great to, a more established and influential villain than some bond villains such as Elliot Carver in 'Tomorrow never dies'.
The partnership of Rickman and Willis was great. Having two contrasting characters worked wonders as the two bring their own beliefs to the story and viewers can appreciate these different beliefs by characters who are very interesting to observe.
The story is fast flowing and kept me on the edge of my seat for the full two hours. A fast placed plot with typical action conventions was crafted magnificently and appreciates the genre by using gun fights, stereotypes of villains, cops, the FBI etc to great effect. It is what many would expect but the humour, emotion and action ideologies are well crafted together, conveying an enjoyable action film.
Question marks hover over the beginning and the ending. The beginning is slow and may appear uninteresting and the ending is very over-exaggerated like many of the action scenes but I can't help but like it.
Having the film set in one setting, Nakatomi towers, was vital to the films success because being in a claustrophobic area allows the central protagonist's opinions to be limited, viewers are inclined to know how he is going to solve the problems with only a few options.
It is a very captivating film with the acting by everyone influential. The conventions of action are present but are more enjoyable than others because of the humour used.
Anyone with a strong gut and a thirst for riveting action scenes and dry sarcastic humour, believe me, you will love it.