Back to basics

Rating: 8/10 (24 November 2013)

In this third entry in the franchise, we begin with a large explosion at a department store. The NYPD then receive a call from a gentleman called 'Simon' (Jeremy Irons) who says that he wants them to send John McClane to 128th Street. The problem for the NYPD is that McClane has been suspended and therefore they initially refuse to co-operate. However, Simon says (no pun intended) that if they don't comply that another building will get blown up. Reluctantly, they agree to Simon's demands and send in John McClane. McClane isn't keen to help out - mainly due to him suffering a bad hangover - he's not exactly been using his time constructively and has almost turned into an alcoholic (this is most probably as a result of the breakdown of his marriage to Holly). Zeus (Samuel L Jackson) ends up an unwilling partner with McClane when he unknowingly interferes in Simon's plans when McClane is stood in Harlem wearing nothing but a sandwich board with a slogan on it that upsets the locals. Simon is upset that Zeus rescued McClane from certain death and that he interfered with his plans and sees him as an accessory. McClane's inspector Walter (Larry Bryggman) decides to re-instate McClane back into the NYPD and along with Zeus they both try to discover what Simon wants with McClane;
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The first big plus with this Die Hard entry is that McTiernan is back at the helm. This was the man that directed the excellent first film. One major strength in this film is the plot - it initially plays out as a standard revenge film (Simon was Hans brother who McClane killed in the first film). However, Simon has more on his mind than just revenge and intends to steal all the gold from the federal reserve bank in New York. Simon tells the police and FBI that he is going to blow up a school in New York if Zeus and McClane don't get to a specified destination in 20 minutes. This was used as a 'distraction' to get all of the police in one place making it easier for him and his men to steal the gold bullion from the Federal Reserve bank.Straight away, this plot has been thought through much more than the rather silly and implausible plot that we saw in the second film.
Whilst this is clearly a Die Hard film, it also felt a bit like there was a Lethal Weapon cross over with McClane and Zeus being Riggs and Murtagh respectively - the only difference being that Zeus isn't a police officer. This isn't a criticism it's just merely an observation. As with Riggs and Murtagh, the chemistry was great between McClane and Zeus.
The plot is engaging with plenty of twists and turns throughout. What impressed me the most about this entry was the fact that the audience are constantly left guessing; the fact that sometimes Simon was bluffing and sometimes being serious about where the bombs are located was intriguing and really helped to keep my interest. Aside from all this, it was also really entertaining. A lot of the time Simon gave them clues to where the bombs were located in riddles and it was fun seeing how frustrated Zeus and McClane were getting when trying to work out the riddles.
Jeremy Irons (like his brother in the first film) was also a great villain. I personally felt Sadler wasn't quite as convincing in the second film.
Overall, this is a huge improvement on the second film and is close to being as good as the first film. We have a well thought out plot which is both engaging and plausible. DHWAV is also massively entertaining and Willis and Jackson are both on top form and as I've already mentioned they both work really well together. Do not miss this one!