Very good second sequel

Rating: 8/10 (20 October 2000)

"Die Hard With A Vengeance" is the third movie in the "Die Hard" series. I found this to be the weakest movie in the series, but that doesn't make it a bad film. It's still a very good movie. I just like the first two films better. Bruce Willis returns for a third-go-around as John McClane, the tough cop who's always in trouble with something. In the first film he faced terrorists in a skyscraper in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve. In the second film he faced terrorists at an airport in snowy Washington D.C. approximately one year after his L.A. adventure. In the third film he's back in New York and back with the N.Y.P.D. Bombs have been setup all over the city by a German maniac named Simon. This bad guy (played by Jeremy Irons) just happens to be the brother of the lead terrorist from the original film, and tries to exact revenge against McClane by playing "Simon Says". Simon orders McClane, along with his new partner Zeus (Samuel L. Jackson), to go to certain areas of the city where bombs have been placed, and it's their job to disarm the bombs or try to prevent utter disaster. I didn't find "Die Hard With A Vengeance" quite as spectacularly exciting as the previous two movies, but there is plenty of action which makes in very entertaining nevertheless. One thing that worked so well in the first two installments was the sense of humor. There's alot more of that in "Die Hard With A Vengeance" which makes it the funniest film in the "Die Hard" series. Willis is fine, but the real star here is Jackson, who's hilarious as Zeus. The heated exchanges between Willis and Jackson throughout are very funny. The action scenes are top-notch as you would expect. I would rank this as the best action movie series to date (yes, I like the "Die Hard" movies better than the "Lethal Weapon" pictures which are good too). If "Die Hard With A Vengeance" was the final film in this series, at least the series went out a winner.
*** (out of four)