Could they really bring back the greatest action series? HELL YES!!

Rating: 10/10 (27 June 2007)

I am not a fan of sequels following decades of the previous installments. Why wait so long? That being said Live Free or Die Hard was probably my most anticipated film of 2007 because Bruce Willis and his portrayal of John McClane single handedly hammered out some of the best action films of the eighties and early nineties. But could they really do justice?? Could they really resurrect the character and the series and not make it forced and still do justice to the Die Hard name?? Oh hell yes they did!! Live Free or Die Hard is ALMOST everything I could have ever expected from a fourth installment 12 years after Die Hard With A Vengeance. It had it's faults, it couldn't be perfect but my gosh it came just about as close to perfection I could have even imagined. It exceeded my incredibly high expectations and sits now as the greatest of the summer blockbusters to date and certainly high above any of the myriad of sequels this year. Director Len Wiseman is fairly new to the direction game having only created the Underworld series but did so to greatness (especially the first one.) That being said I think Wiseman went out of his way to make sure Willis had a big say in everything and to make sure this Die Hard was right along par with any of the previous ones. One of Live Free's faults is the same as every other blockbuster 2007 film...it's TOO packed. These films are proving that there is such thing as too much of a good thing. Live Free or Die Hard is over the top adrenaline and packed full of fantastic stunts and explosions and one liners and everything the first three Die Hard films were known for times three. So it can be a little over whelming. The story (which I was concerned might be a little 'techy') actually worked perfectly and was the perfect 'new' story for John McLean to deal with because he was very out of place amongst this brand of terrorism but his cowboy ways still worked.
Bruce Willis returns and blows the face off of anyone who thinks action exists without him and Die Hard. He brings John McClane back to the screen like he had never been away. I thought for sure he wouldn't be able to be the same character that was twenty years ago and he is...he's perfect!! Willis is still the action king!! Timothy Olyphant takes the helm as the lead terrorist with big shoes to fill following Alan Rickman, William Sadler, and Jeremy Irons as Die Hard bad guys and Olyphant is just awesome. He has that deviant evil look to him and that cold, unforgiving way about him. One of the most disappointing aspects of the film was the final battle between McClane and him because it was short and too quick and there wasn't a build up but still he is just awesome. Justin Long...what to say...I like the guy, I have liked him ever since Jeepers Creepers but I was scared to death what he would do as the sidekick to Willis in this film and it turns out he was awesome!! Long was the perfect opposite to McClane and made for a great sidekick and wasn't used so much that it became annoying. Instead he did an awesome job as the neurotic hacker turned good guy. Mary Elizabeth Winstead also really surprised as the terrific Lucy Gennaro/McClane. She looked a lot like Bonnie Bedelia who played Holly McClane in previous installments. She also had the fire and wit that Willis brings to his role so she was perfect. Cliff Curtis was alright as the man on the other end of the walkie talkie and head agent in charge but he was a little dry for all the action and plot.
What all the critics are saying is true...the film does run a little longer than necessary, and one of the most disappointing things was the delivery of McClane's infamous catch phrase "Yippie Kayay Mother F%$#er" came too quickly and just seemed out of place and I waited the whole film to hear it delivered, it just wasn't right. The fight scenes were a little short especially the big battles but there was plenty of terrific and memorable one liners and action sequences that just make you wanna jump up and cheer including McClane shooting a fire extinguisher as a make shift bomb, an intense chopper vs police cruiser scene, Fighter Jet vs Semi truck and just McClane vs bad guys. Live Free or Die Hard is one of the best sequels I have ever seen and absolutely deserves the Die Hard name. Bruce Willis looked cut and copied right from the original Die Hards, he looks incredible, young and easily handles the action scenes and looks macho doing it. Blood soaked, cut and torn with that familiar faded brown muscle shirt. Witty quips oozing during every situation. This WAS DIE HARD!! Although unlikely I hope this completely reinvigorates the Die Hard Franchise and we see at least one more because this is the kind of kick ass hard core action flick the new millennium has yet to see. This was the throw back to the unstoppable action flicks of the eighties. I WILL see this again...and it's an instant action classic!! 10/10