A decent action film with a great ending

Rating: 7/10 (10 January 2006)

This is apparently not as good as Die Hard. No matter, as I, luckily, have not seen Die Hard, so my opinion cannot be altered by expectation. As a film in it's own right, Die Hard 2 is pretty good, although not great. Indeed, it appears to be heading towards a 3-star rating, until the intense, explosive ending, which is epitomised by Bruce Willis' line: "Yippie-ki-yay Motherf*****!" The reasons that it appears to be merely 3-star material for most of the film is as follows, the villain is not very convincing, he does not inspire fear, hatred, impulsive interest or emit a sheer callousness and disregard for human life like the best villains do, for instance, Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator (a much better film). All this guy does is inspire indifference from the audience. Ditto Major Grant, who isn't in the film long enough to be hated as a villain as he is exposed at the last minute. In a way, this adds an interesting twist, but this does not last long. Bruce Willis' John McClane is one big stereotype; one of Rambo. This is fine in Rambo films or other mindless, 'dumb-fun' action films, but not in films which are touted as having more substance than that. McClane is basically a lean, mean fighting machine. The acting is OK, sometimes intense, but never really great; the villain, as I said, is a big letdown. I do, however, like how a reporter in Die Hard 2 incites panic among the populace, which adds to the film's intensity, but unfortunately, Die Hard 2 is also tacked with a very unnecessary outlying Christmas theme.
No, my friends, where this film really does excel is it's ending. After looking as if the baddies are about to escape, McClane somehow heads onto their plane, fights briefly with Major Grant, then after opening the fuselage, jumps off and lights it with a lighter. The plane is followed by one, long jet-flame; unrealistic, but exciting, so who the hell cares? A massive explosion occurs, but not before Bruce Willis has time to utter that movie-defining line: "Yippie-ki-yay Motherf*****!" Overall, this is an action film worth seeing, even if it is hardly original. Just be sure to wait for the ending.
3.5/5 stars