Entertaining third installment of the beloved action franchise

Rating: 7/10 (5 January 2016)

John McTiernan has returned for a third time, and so Bruce Willis making his appearance as the beloved action hero John McClane. This time around, John McClane has become a heavy alcoholic, to the point where he is not only separated from his wife Holly but has also been suspended from the New York Police Department. After making an a rather awkward encounter with a Harlem pawn shop owner Zeus Carver (played by Samuel L. Jackson), the two witness a bomb go off in a department store nearby. The criminal mastermind behind the explosion is no one other than German terrorist Simon Gruber (played by Jeremy Irons) who gives McClane a call and pulls him a deadly game of "Simon Says", where he must perform a series of tasks around the city. Each time he fails to comply, another bomb will detonate. Assisted by the reluctant Zeus Carver, McClane must finish Simon's devious tasks one by one to save the city and stop him and his crew from robbing the Federal Reserve Building.
I have watched Die Hard and Die Hard 2 plenty of times, and are they're both pretty fun action movies. The first one left a cinematic landmark on the action genre, and was a career-defining film for Bruce Willis. The second one is quite entertaining, though didn't quite make an everlasting impression like the predecessor. This one continues the franchise with more fun and edge-of-your-seat action, with Samuel L. Jackson making a surprising appearance as the supporting hero who helps John McClane on his mission to thwart Simon Gruber's twisted plan. Jackson is certainly not an actor I expected to see star opposite Bruce Willis in the franchise. Nonetheless, he does a fine job as his character, even when he gets annoying with his racial one-liners. Bruce Willis remains good as ever as the main character, showing a charismatic performance that brought to the previous two films. Willis and Jackson both work shockingly well together, and based on their performances; you can tell that these two star studs are having a blast. Jeremy Irons also brings solid appeal to his role as the main villain, though he doesn't quite bring the same charisma as what Alan Rickman delivered in the first film. I have to admit though, he does come pretty close.
What is a Die Hard movie without some spectacular action sequences and a solid plot? A bad one, that's for sure. This film is filled with some exciting action scenes, complete with some tense gunfights off and on, an intense subway crash, and of course, some explosions done by the antagonist Simon Gruber. The plot on the other hand, is the biggest gem of the film. Based on the decent screenplay, the film follows a plot of the villain's plan to commit robbery, much like the previous films which also deal with robbery to acquire large sums of money, but never gets old nonetheless. The plot is full of surprises and suspense, and is solidly paced to grab viewer's attention and never let go. There is never a dull moment throughout the 131-minute runtime.
Die Hard With a Vengeance is a decent continuation to John McTiernan's action franchise, and proves that Bruce Willis is still committed to his character John McClane. It is rare for a film series to age well after its third installment, but this manages to show that the third film is not always the end of the line for a great franchise.