Script and cast make this film superior to the first two

Rating: Null/10 (14 July 2002)

Bruce Willis returns as John McClane, the cop who is always in the wrong place at the wrong time in Die Hard: With a Vengeance, only this time he has along for the ride... a great script and supporting cast!
Most people rave about Samuel L. Jackson and his role in this film, so I won't spend too much time on that except to say that Jackson's role adds a lot of humor and unpredictability to this film. Jeremy Irons is the best villain of the series by far, creating a multi-dimensional character that is not often seen in action movies of this type.
Most important to me, however, was the supporting cast of the NYPD that played a pivotal role in this final film of the Die Hard series. In the first two movies, the script insulted our intelligence by painting everyone around McClane as a complete idiot. Half of McClane's obstacles were created by incompetent officers making things harder for him. This time, though, we have a staff of hard-working and likeable police officers backing McClane up all the way. As someone with a law enforcement background, I can say that this film did a lot more justice to the teamwork and commitment of individuals in that community than the previous films.
There are many other aspects that make this film superior to its predecessors. The plot is much more intelligent and spans the entire city of New York, abandoning the claustrophobic feel of the first two films. While some people felt that this ruined the atmosphere, I feel that it kept things fresh so that the series did not become too repetitive. While Die Hard 2 tried to simply copy the formula of the first movie, DH3 is very much its own film.
If you watch any of the three DH films, watch the first as it is a classic and helped to define a genre of action movies. But DH3 is an even better film for its originality and great screenplay, and certainly an improvement after the disappointing second film.