The `Superbowl' of action movies-and superior to the original. 8.5/10. Spoilers.

Rating: 9/10 (11 February 2003)

Released a mere 2yrs after the original and helmed by `fill-in' director Renee Harlin, Die Hard2(1990) simply exceeds the original in staging, scale, AND emotional connection. This unique sequel-that-isn't-a-sequel grabs audiences by building on its predecessor-it finally turns John McClane (Bruce Willis) into a truly vulnerable hero fretting with foreknowledge....and for his wife.
Somehow, he again stumbles into a public place overrun by terrorists where he's the only one who appreciates the problem. However, his personal situation is different this time: he's not isolated, he just needs the co-operation of someone in authority.
DH2's terrorists take a major international airport with impunity because they know they have a pull-push-through advantage in their personnel. But soon they have to contend with not one wildcard (Willis), but two-the second being the airport's quiet genius, Chief Engineer Leslie Barnes (Art Evans). McClane & Barnes keep their emotional distance much more than McClane & Al Powell (Reginald VelJohnson) did, quite sensibly for the franchise. Twinkie-chomping Sgt Powell phones in a short reprise appearance. Literally.
McClane's chief homegrown adversary, the traitorous Col. Stuart (William Sandler), is reminiscent of Martin Sheen's sent assassin from Apocalypse Now-a military man suffering from a disappointed cause and intellectual excess. Sandler himself observed that his birthday-suit discipline was `a great opening to a character', and the whole movie. Fans find Col. Stuart an extremely `effective' terrorist (they really hate him)-although his men look obviously out-of-place as they insensitively carry their gaudy (fake) Christmas presents.
The setting, during a snowstorm at Christmas, coalesces DH2 into an airport disaster/political technothriller/`superbowl' actioner -hybrid. Its success demonstrates the value of attracting ALL the right professionals.
Harlin's canny decision to launch the film immediately after the main title allows the action to appear unrelenting. That impression is further parleyed by huge, logistically nightmarish, yet effortless-looking effects by production designer John Vallone, DoP Oliver Wood, and DH1's Sp/fx Coordinator, Al Disarro. They give us snowmobile chases, moving baggage beltways, and miles&miles of fake snow; make deadly use of scaffolding, fake a couple of jet crashes, and hover a helicopter over the wing of a speeding jumbo! ....The snow itself became an unofficial character once it `insisted' on being trucked in (1989 was infamous for not having any).
Such production values were Herculean compared to DH1: John Vallone built a 130'x207' set with an oversized 2-storey ATC-tower (large enough to accommodate the cameras/cranes), coupled with soundstage-spanning miniature runways, miniature planes and miniature lights outside.

The lavish talents of both cast&crew are a real treat-and the reason behind DH2's success, together with the original story.
The screenplays of DH1&2 were adaptations of two different novels by completely different authors. Joel Silver's vision turned them into sequential Bruce Willis vehicles. Roderick Thorp(1936-1999) wrote `Nothing Lasts Forever' in 1979, which later became DH1(1988). DH2 was adapted from the Walter Wager novel `58 Minutes'-with added streamlining characters written for DH2 by Thorp-before the screenplay was finalized by Stephen DeSouza & Doug Richardson.
DH2 just bulges with action-the `annex skywalk' firefight is best, with all that scaffolding, paint, and glass presenting such dangers to flesh. Thanks to stunt-coordinator Charles Picerni (brother to Paul of the 1960s' The Untouchables), all the homicide victims fall dead in uncomfortable positions, increasing their pathos-and the movie's cred.

Yet despite DH2's achievements, some niggles remain.
For one thing, the series has dated a little. Still arrogant, McClane is foul-mouthed and crass to the point of embarrassment-esp. with Carmine Lorenzo (Dennis Franz), the Chief of the terminal police, and with Sam Coleman, the female reporter (Sheila McCarthy).
Admittedly, Capt. Lorenzo's lines ARE obnoxious, which force McClane to spout even worse ones in reply: `Hey, Lorenzo! What sets off the metal detectors first? The lead in your a** or the sh!t in your brains?' Sadly, such immaturity undermines them BOTH.
Part of the problem was that Franz kept flubbing his lines-he never got comfortable. He has never portrayed an obnoxious character again; he's settled back into disenchanted, apolitical cops.
McClane's oft-repeated and sometimes clumsy victimisation unfortunately became DH2's biggest cliche. Since it's the element that reveals the franchise formula, the active excesses had to be dropped: by DH3 McClane is only verbally dismissed.
DH2's remaining conceit is its audience-teasing about just who the good/bad guys are. Franz's Lorenzo and John Amos' Major Grant deliver lots of misdirection, but it became impossible to backpedal their stated intentions: Lorenzo's disingenuous smile in the last scene, and Major Grant's 180-degree change of attitude halfway, are difficult to swallow. Jackie Burch didn't miscast; the fault is in the tricky writing.
DH2's humour was also tricky: when the rent-a-car attendant (Lauren Letherer) invites McClane for coffee, his comeback-`Just the fax, ma'am'-is cute; but his `...not the kind of ride I'm looking for' to Sam Coleman goes too far: without heightened circumstances, his corrosive hostility is incomprehensible. Such apparent arrogance undermines McClane's character as both a family man AND as a vulnerable hero.
We're also repulsed when the older passenger (Jeanne Bates) relates how she'd tested her stun-gun on her own dog! The joke's too ratcheted, yet Holly McClane (Bonnie Bedelia) only reacts with an askance stare. This left the old lady looking too stupid and immoral.
Another mistake occurs when the (black) terminal cop (Paul Bollen) points his gun at McClane instead of the fleeing African-American terrorist (Vondie Curtis-Hall)-even if unintentional, this plays like reverse prejudice onscreen (but would've appeared as just typical `McClane-victimisation' had they not cast an African-American as Officer Carlson). Now this WAS careless casting.
The film did take artistic license aplenty, but we just love revisiting the same characters, seeing them be put through newer paces.

DH2 really is `the Superbowl of action movies' (Sandler). The less-pleasant true sequel to DH1, DH3, although again directed by McTiernan, is so far removed from the `superbowl'-feel that we're just not interested in any Special Edition. For archetypal hyper-realism, DH2 has no equal-not even within the series.(8.5/10)