Not excellent, but still a worthy sequel.

Rating: 8/10 (13 October 2007)

John McClane is back. This time he;s awaiting his wife at Dulles International Airport In Washington, D.C. at Christmas Eve. But a group of mercenaries take over and shut down the landing area of the airport until their demands are met. So what will McClane do? What else? Nothing but kicking terrorist butt! Willis returns in this sequel to the action masterpiece Die Hard. Here he is as energetic and as witty as in the first movie. You gotta hand it to Willis, he's like the only actor who acts stereotypically and we still enjoy it no matter what. Yes, it's that stereotypic action hero we love no matter what!! He also delivers the godlike line here.
William Sadler was also a good, but not great, choice for the lead villain, as his character is a cruel bad-ass. He's like a buff kung-fu kicking dictator, who goes around crashing planes as he pleases. Also, it's nice to see Robert Patrick in his pre-T1000 years, as a henchman, but at least he had a line, and a good one, too. Dennis Franz was okay as the airport security chief, Fred Thompson was good as the Head of Air Traffic Control, as per others.
The action scenes look bigger, but some not better than the first. The claustrophobic tension is gone, as it's no longer a building, it's an entire open-space area that is under control. Also, the budget is considerably bigger this time around. Bigger stunts. Bigger explosions. Bigger plot holes. But still, Renny Harlin still directs some pulse-pounding, if not absurd, action sequences. Accompanied by a great Michael Kamen score, and a still-great screenplay from De Souza. Also, the editing is quick and flashier than the first, as it was done by Stuart Baird, who would later direct the excellent thriller Executive Decision, also involving airplanes.
Still, while not quite living up to its predecessor and the story is an almost direct-replica of the first, it is by no means bad and it is still a worthy sequel for Die Hard.
6.9/10
Delton