Good Die Hard movie but not a great film

Rating: 8/10 (12 July 2007)

Die Hard 2 is a perfect Die Hard movie. It has the characteristics and makings of a great Die Hard film. Since I am a huge Die Hard fan, I think the Die Hard characteristics of violence, action, and vulgarity are enough to make it a pure entertainment film but it falls short of being a good movie. Although John McTiernan does not direct this film, Renny Harlin does a good job with this sequel.
One problem I have is the acting. I think the film falls short of the other films in a line of supporting actors. Bruce Willis of course returns in his star role of John McClane. His character is just as witty and humorous as ever. The other good performance was Dennis Franz as Captain Lorenzo. His character was extremely funny. A beautiful addition to the film who is just a nuisance and pest to McClane. I am somewhat displeased with the villains. I do not really like William Sadler in this film as Colonel Stuart. He just does not come off to me as being that evil or manipulative like Alan Rickman or Jeremy Irons. His character just seems kind of stale and melancholy. I feel the same about the army commander Major Grant who was played by John Amos. There are some good secondary performances but I think some of the major characters were not handled that well.
The story is fairly good. I am kind of torn between the redundant idea of "Being in the wrong place at the wrong time." I mean, it just seems like maybe a new idea could have been come up with instead of him just being unlucky. But that entire theme was what made the first film so great and it does re-add some humor to this film which I like. There is one thing that upsets me about the story though. Colonel Stuart leads a group of ex-soldiers to take over Washington D.C. airport in order to rescue a captured drug lord who is being flown in to the airport. Yet this is all they apparently want! They want no money and as McClane said in the most recent one, "It is always about the money." So why do they just want the drug-lord? This "inconsistency" really influences my disliking of the story. It may not seem like that big a deal but it kind of bugs me. There is a good twist in this movie that I like! I forgot all about it until I watched it again recently and it still surprised me when it jogged my memory. I really think the ending may be the best ending of all the movies! Just the way Willis plays off the ending is superb!
The film has some newer, bigger, and more intense scenes in it. There is more that can be done at a huge airport I think than in a skyscraper so the movie is open to new possibilities. There are still plenty of varied and intense killings of terrorists by McClane so you will never know what to expect which is great.
If you are a "Die Hard" Die Hard fan, this a good movie for you. If you are a simple movie fan, this may not be a great movie for you. It is an excellent entertainment film with plenty of action and violence but the story seems inconsistent! It should be seen just because it is a Die Hard movie and as my friend says about Die Hard, "If you don't like it, you don't have balls!"