Yippiee-Kay-Ay Mother.er!!!!"-McClane is back & better than ever ! Welcome back to the party, pal! Willis delivers the goods w/relish

Rating: 9/10 (29 June 2007)

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD (2007) ***1/2 Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long, Maggie Q, Cliff Curtis, Jonathan Sadowski, Andrew Friedman, Kevin Smith, Yorgo Constantine, Cyril Raffaelli, Chris Palermo, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Zeljko Ivanek. NYPD Detective John McClane (Willis reprising his iconic role with relish) is back in the best of the sequels to date this tame facing the gargantuan task of stopping a cybernetic team of terrorists led by Olyphant (duded up in Johnny Cash black), a disgruntled ex-government expert on homeland security, set on 'fire sale' : wiping out the US of all methods of finance, communication and basic fundamentals during the 4th of July. Aided by reluctant hacker Long (making as the damsel-in-distress and tweaking his Mac TV ad character to the hilt), his trademark cool- under-pressure, quippy alpha male brio and street smarts, McClane is at his best resorting to some sharp, smart improvised bits of business to stop the bad guys. As the "Timex watch in a digital world", he just keeps on tickin'! Kudos to the rapid-fire, adrenalized pumping action and LOL dialogue by scribes Mark Bomback and David Marconi, and the shrewdly skillful direction by Len Wiseman, the team wisely lets Willis flex his over-the-board appeal and over-the-top sequences incorporating Parkour, the French derivative acrobatic leaping about, CGI splendor in some truly realistic, jaw-dripping set pieces including various methods of transportation hurtling at our hero (my have: "killing the copter").
Despite the good people at Fox dumbing down the audience to a PG-13 (really should've been an R people!) the violence doesn't feel too-watered down. All I can gleefully say is: "Yippiee-Kay-Ay Mother.er!!!!"