Great sequel to an action classic

Rating: Null/10 (16 June 2000)

Die Hard launched the career of John McTiernan and Bruce Willis as MAJOR Hollywood stars. It also made $137 million worldwide. So whats in store? A sequel that must live up to the original (not an easy job, especially for young director Renny Harlin). But for once, they did it right.
Die Hard 2: Die Harder takes place 1 year after the events in the original film. Detective John McClane (Willis) has moved to Los Angeles and joined the LAPD so he can be with his wife, since they got back together at the conclusion of Die Hard. He is waiting, again at Christmas, for his wife's plane to land at Dulles International Airport. But then lightning strikes again. A sophisticated team of mercenaries led by the sinister ex-Army Col. Stuart (William Sadler) have hijacked the airport's control systems and have power over the airplanes, which are forced to circle over the airport while their fuel runs out. His demands: allow the deposed dictator (and druglord) of a Central American country's plane to land and instead of being taken by Government officials, he will board a fully fueled 747 along with Col. Stuart and his crew to be taken anywhere. Refuse, and planes start crashing. Once again, McClane is forced to be the unlikely hero.
The story in the picture is solid and there are plot twists that keep it interesting as McClane does anything and everything to stop Col. Stuart. This includes a shootout with mercenaries at an unfinished skywalk, a snowmobile chase and fighting with Col. Stuart on the wing of a disembarking jet. The action in the film is really fantastic, and so is the direction. Again, a great cast has been assembled with some returning characters (Holly McClane, the reporter, Sgt. Al Powell) and some slick new villans (sharp eyes can catch Robert Patrick as a mercenary, the guy who would later become the T-1000 in Terminator 2).
The only real problem in the picture is the script. It tries to much to be like the original movie. The reporter from Die Hard returns in a nothing role. There are more thickheaded cops for McClane to argue with. And there is even the discovery of the walkie talkie that the mercenaries use.
Even so, don't let that discourage you from seeing Die Hard 2. It's a pulse-pounding rollercoaster of unpredictability and fun that lives up to the original.