In the tradition of Die Hard exposition, With A Vengeance starts more or less with McClane...

Rating: 9/10 (12 February 2020)

...in the back of a van and while he gets over his hangover his cop buddies rattle off about five things that will come in to play later on. I don't know if that's genius or nonsense.
Equally baffling is the outlandish way that McClane and Sam Jackson's Zeus meet. Is it edgy and dangerous or is it in bad taste? Although most of the rest of the film plays with race politics in an interesting way (Zeus at the phone with the cop is a dicey moment given recent history) and its interesting pre-9-11 to see how brutal the train crash is.
Fortunately this is one of the only things in this movie that seems dated, just like the first Die Hard, McTiernan directs a clean, crisp, energetic and pacey intelligent action flick. It's got some nice musical theme incorporations, and it's got a very claustrophobic directing style that sometimes works, and a Lethal Weapon witty buddy repartee.
But the piece de resistance is Jeremy Irons' Gruber who is as silly as he is sadistic. He's a real genuine pleasure and him and the film is deeply sinister with real stakes even around the whole of New York.
I have to admit I see this film through rose tinted nostalgia glasses, but I do love this film, it's fun, competent and modern with enough red herrings to choke ten cats and a great Shane Black sensibility. I do think it still holds up, but what the hell do I know, even John McTiernan called the plot "frail and outrageous. I hope people enjoy its ridiculousness." I do Sir, I do.