Exciting sequel, though probably my least favorite in the series

Rating: 8/10 (16 September 2008)

You know "Die Hard" is a good series when even the least good sequel is still a very good film. The action in "Die Hard With a Vengeance" never slows down for a minute. Not only is Bruce Willis nearly as good as John McClane as he was before, but now we have the great Samuel L. Jackson to add more great elements to the film. His fights with McClane make the movie and manage to entertain to the fullest. Jeremy Irons also plays a great villain as Simon, telling riddles to intimidate McClane before setting off bombs that threaten to destroy New York City. He still cannot measure up to the brilliance of Alan Rickman's villain from the first film, but he is easily the second-best villain in the series. The action scenes are great, particularly the race to stop the subway from blowing up. The scene at the pay phone is very exciting as well. It is inferior to the original, as well as the other two sequels, however. This film lacks great scenes of character development like the first film had. All the dialogue scenes here are mainly used as arguments between Willis and Jackson. Also, the action gets very tedious after a while, and the viewer may be too stressed after so many races through the streets. It is very enjoyable nonetheless. Action movie lovers will embrace this film. What an exciting ride, worthy of this great film series.
*** out of ****