Second of the trilogy...

Rating: 9/10 (10 November 2002)

Die Hard 2: Die Harder. The second film in arguably one of the greatest action series of all time.
Even though many people see this film as the weak point in the trilogy, I simply look at this, then films like 'Knockoff', and laugh. Even though this film can be considered of a lesser standard than the others, it has something which a lot of action films don't... character development. When the first plane explodes, rather than just shaking his head, and then forgetting about it minutes later, we see how physically shaken McLane is that he didn't save the passengers. We see his desperation in trying to save them, grabbing towels, and setting them alight. Now, in a large number of action films, the pilots would see him and pull up, and everyone would be saved. The way Die Harder shows this sequence is a vast improvement, and you really feel the emotion when the plane misses him and carries on, before crashing. Fantastic.
This film has a lot of strong performances. Bruce Willis puts in another emotional performance as L.A.P.D cop, John McLane, and the surrounding cast never let him down.
And Robert Patrick has one of my favorite lines, "What do I look like to you?" "A sitting duck". Brilliant.
Overall, perhaps not as good as the original, but far better than most.
7/10