Different from the other films in the Die Hard series.

Rating: 8/10 (17 July 2007)

Len Wiseman has been notorious for making and directing bad films such as Underworld and it's even worse sequel Underworld: Evolution. So it came as a surprise when he got the task of directing Die Hard 4.0 (Live Free or Die Hard in the United States.) Would this film with hardly known actors (excluding Bruve Willis) and a less than good director live up to the previous films standards? The answer is a definite yes. However if you are expecting a claustrophobic environment that the first two Die Hard's did and you did not enjoy Die Hard with a Vengeance then this is not the film for you. Die Hard 4.0 is widespread reaching from areas to Washington DC to Baltimore. Which by the way is even more than the free roaming Die Hard with a Vengeance. Therefore the action is guaranteed to be more explosive and wily and it certainly was like that as John McClane (played by Bruce Willis, of course) was sending cars into the air and jumping off planes. But the action can feel a bit too fake at times yet nearly all these stunts were pulled off without CGI especially when he sends a car into a helicopter. Yet despite people being shot there is hardly any blood which can kick reality out the window.
The story is pretty good and pretty relative to post 9/11 action films or TV series like 24. It's all about terrorism and villain Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) being the best computer programmer of all time hacks into every system that depends on the US government. This cause chaos and havoc in Washington DC meaning people are running around like headless chickens wondering what is happening and means attempting to kill a few hackers to stop them from stopping the cyber-terrorism such as Matt Ferrell (Justin Long.) Except he fails to kill Matt as John McClane saves his life. This gives us a great partnership for the rest of the film creating wit during the non-action scenes for example Matt taking the mickey of McClane's lack of technological knowledge and good teamwork with McClane taking the mickey of Matt's lack of knowledge on how to handle himself in a gun fight. With Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Lucy McClane being as mentally strong as her dad these three good guys make a very good team.
Unfortunately the bad guys are less impressive as Maggie Q's Mai seemed stronger than the main bad guy that I nearly thought she was a character cross-breed from House of Flying Daggers and The Matrix which for a full throttle no holds barred film such as Die Hard 4.0 it is a tad bit silly. Timothy Olyphant did act his role well but he wasn't sinister enough or scary enough to be a memorable bad guy unlike Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber in the original Die Hard or else wouldn't the character of Lucy McClane be scared of him. The only other bad thing is that his legendary quote, "yippee-ki-yay motherf****r" is cut off by a gunshot.
If it wasn't the use of the s-word this could have been a 12A (it is a UK rating means under 12's can see as long as they are accompanied by an adult for people who live outside Britain.) as the lack of blood and the storyline appeals more to a young audience but not to worry for the fans of the original as the action is still pretty tense. Overall, director Len Wiseman has definitely proved that Bruce Willis has still got it to be John McClane as his hair is gone but his attitude certainly hasn't. Die Hard 4.0 is as good as the rest of the Die Hard series.