Not worthy of the series

Rating: 5/10 (27 June 2007)

I had nothing but HIGH expectations for this film ... It was the first time since Bad Boys 2 that I was this excited for a film. I am a HUGE fan of the Die Hard series ... especially the first two ... but Live Free or Die Hard seemed more of a "Let's see if we can out do our own action scenes" type movie (ex. Bad Boys 2).
The plot was decent, but what made the first two movies great was the confined space of which John McClane had to survive in and how he dealt with that situation. The third installment was all over NYC and the new installment seemed to take place all over the upper east coast.
And I'm not a big fan of the whole sidekick idea. Sam Jackson is a great actor but he was unnecessary in with a Vengenace as was Justin Long. His character was useful but could have been written out or at least not played such a major role.
Don't even get me started on the PG-13 rating. How can McClane not finish his patented line, "Yippie Ki Aye Motha ...." Disgraceful. Just another way for the movie company to make more money from the younger kids going to the movie to see the big booms.
It's a decent action film but no where near worthy of the "Die Hard" name.