A worthwhile follow-up to the action classic

Rating: 8/10 (1 February 2018)

The original "Die Hard" is an essential action movie that ranks among the very best in the genre. At this point, we've seen four sequels of somewhat varied quality. For my money, the most successful of these is "Die Hard 2". I like that it stays closest to the spirit of the first movie, although others may be hoping for a bit more variety.
This time around, the events of the movie once again take place on Christmas Eve. Defying the odds, detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) once again finds himself having to almost single-handedly take down a team of terrorists who have placed his wife in immediate danger (along with several others). This time, instead of being trapped in an inaccessible skyscraper, the would-be victims of terrorism are now trapped aboard passenger planes that are unable to land and are rapidly running out of fuel. With these kinds of similarities, I'm glad that the movie goes so far as to have John McClane ask himself how this sort of thing can happen to the same guy twice. That kind of self-awareness makes it easy to forgive the movie's disregard of plausibility in the pursuit of entertainment value.
Thankfully, they took more than just inspiration for the plot from the first movie. Willis is back, of course, but so are Bonnie Bedelia & William Atherton, plus (in a cameo appearance) Reginald VelJohnson. There's some good interplay between Bedelia & Atherton that livens up the scenes aboard the plane. At ground level, some of the notable supporting actors are Dennis Franz, John Amos & William Sadler. All in all, a nicely assembled cast that does justice to the compelling script by returning screenwriter Stephen E. de Souza.
Director Renny Harlin got his chance when John McTiernan declined to return and I'd say that he did a perfectly capable job in his place. The film moves at a brisk pace with no shortage of action. The climactic showdown may be a bit over the top but not quite so much when compared to later entries in the series. Another returnee worth mentioning is Michael Kamen, who once again provided a unique musical score.
Although it certainly isn't the most original movie of all time, "Die Hard 2" does a good job of providing thrills in the same vein as its predecessor. Subsequent sequels strayed further from the original template and, in my opinion, lacked the intangible qualities that made "Die Hard" stand out among a sea of action movies in the first place. While "Die Hard With a Vengeance" has its moments, "Die Hard 2" has always been (and is likely to remain) my favourite of the sequels.