Cracking action, cracking fun

Rating: 8/10 (5 March 2006)

Die Hard With A Vengeance is probably the most fun film of the definitive action trilogy of the 80s and 90s. While Die Hard was certainly a gripping adrenaline-fuelled action thriller, and Die Hard 2 stuck closely to that formula, the third film decided that, whilst retaining the action, to cut loose and have fun.
The third Die Hard film sees John McLane (Bruce Willis) tearing round New York trying to solve riddles set by the maniacal younger brother of Hans Gruber who he threw off a skyscraper in the first film. Meanwhile the rest of the NYPD are trying to deal with more real threats posed by the terrorist. In these kind of action films, common sense seems to go out of the window in terms of plot rationale anyway, but this time the 'as if' factor is tempered by a great sense of fun.
The main source of entertainment however comes not from the plot itself but Samuel L Jackson, who plays a manic fast-talking wisecracking stereotypical black New Yorker named Zeus, with liberal use of the word 'ass' and other more colourful profanities. Jeremy Irons plays this round's bad guy, and plays a slightly more comical version of the first film's Hans Gruber. It seems that British actors have a monopoly on playing the bad guys in American blockbusters, but then again they do seem to do it so well. Meanwhile Bruce Willis faces little challenge in reprising his John McLane action role that, since the first Die Hard film, has become the template for virtually all action heroes, white vest and all.
While the action in this film is slightly less explosive than the first two films, the tone is generally much lighter , as if the film has its tongue firmly embedded in its cheek. However the constant wisecracking often threatens to cause the film to descend into self-parody  a problem that has led to many dubbing this film the worst of the trilogy. But with the second film sticking closely to the formula of the first, the injection of freshness was definitely warranted, as if to combat an onset of the franchise being accused of taking itself to seriously. And while this freshness largely comes from Samuel L Jackson's stereotypical black New Yorker (Jeremy Irons villain is merely pantomime hissable) the film came at a time when the stereotype was not so widespread and parodied. Further, there are still plenty of adrenaline-charged action scenes. All in all this made Die Hard With A Vengeance a highly entertaining film. Maybe not the best of the three, but definitely the most fun.