Third time's the lucky charm with Die Hard With a Vengeance

Rating: 9/10 (31 January 2015)

Die Hard With a Vengeance is one of the few sequels out there that is as good as the first. I thought this was slightly better than Die Hard 2, and Die Hard 4.0 and A Good Day to Die Hard could not do better than the first three Die Hard movies. It was also good to see John McTiernan return to the director's chair.
After many various blueprints of Die Hard came out such as the sequel Die Hard 2 (Die Hard in an airport), Under Siege (Die Hard on a Navy Battleship), Cliffhanger (Die Hard in the Rocky Mountains) Speed (Die Hard on a bus), and further movies such as Sudden Death (Die Hard in a Hockey Stadium), Passenger 57, Executive Decision, Air Force One and Con Air (Die Hard on a plane), and more recently Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down (Die Hard in the White House). Most of these movies have been met with mixed results, some have been box office hits, and some were not so good. Die Hard With a Vengeance is simply Die Hard in New York City, and it makes an excellent idea for an action movie.
Die Hard With a Vengeance starts off with a bang, literally, when the Bonwit Teller Department Store is blown up by a mysterious terrorist named Simon (Jeremy Irons, in a crackling performance). Simon then phones the New York Police Department to take credit for the bombing and personally asks for John McClane.
Lieutenant John McClane (Bruce Willis) is back with the New York Police Department after his stint with the Los Angeles Police Department in Die Hard 2, or to be more accurate, currently suspended from the NYPD. He has since separated from his wife Holly (who does not make an appearance in this movie) who is still in Los Angeles, and he is almost an alcoholic. McClane is called in by Simon to play a game aptly named Simon Says, which is to solve a number of riddles and play a number of bizarre games around New York otherwise face another bomb detonation. Following a game in which McClane must walk around Harlem with a racist sign which took a lot of guts, he is saved by an angry and bigoted shopkeeper Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson) after several locals accost McClane. Simon then forces Zeus to join the game of Simon Says in which Zeus reluctantly agrees.
McClane and Zeus must race against time to play Simon's sick and twisted game before more innocent lives are taken, while at the same time a bigger and much more diabolical plan is taking place. This includes solving a number of riddles across New York, and in an action packed scene, racing across Central Park in a taxi commandeered by McClane and Zeus. We also learn a bigger secret with Simon's grand scheme, one that comes back to haunt John McClane. Before Simon is able to successfully execute his grand scheme, McClane and Zeus must find Simon and successfully stop him.
It was great seeing Bruce Willis back as his iconic character John McClane. He is more bitter and world weary, although he has not lost his quick witted dry humour and gutsy determination. Samuel L. Jackson as the angry storekeeper Zeus Carver made a great partner for John McClane, and everything that shows why Samuel L. Jackson a quality actor is displayed perfectly in Die Hard With a Vengeance. Jeremy Irons made a great villain. Although he previously voiced the villainous Scar in The Lion King, believe it or not this is his first real role as the main villain in a movie and Jeremy Irons is tailor made for the role as Simon.
As I mentioned before, it was great to see the original director of Die Hard return to the director's chair for Die Hard With a Vengeance, and . Screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh does an excellent job with the story, continuously maintaining the rage and there is not a single dull moment. The late Michael Kamen returns as the composer and continuously maintains the exciting theme of the first two Die Hard movies.
In some ways the franchise should have ended with Die Hard With a Vengeance, as this was definitely a hard act to follow. While Die Hard 4.0 was enjoyable but not great, A Good Day to Die Hard was a disappointment which signalled the death knell of the franchise. Die Hard With a Vengeance is still definitely a blockbusting enjoyable action movie, and certainly proves that third time's the lucky charm.
9/10.