Needs more Reginald VelJohnson.

Rating: 6/10 (17 December 2008)

With action films and their aging stars back on the rise thanks to Sylvester Stallone's recent franchise resurrections in "Rambo" and "Rocky Balboa", it seemed only natural that Bruce Willis take John McClane out of a twelve-year retirement for a "Die Hard 4" -- or "Live Free Or Die Hard" -- even if it means being hindered by a careless studio and a ridiculous PG-13 rating. Surely twelve years is a long time, long enough for a new generation of action fans to be spawned who are offended by some flesh-wounds and f-words, right?
All fan-boy venting put on hold, "Live Free Or Die Hard" isn't as horrible a film as it was set up to be. Despite the fact that Bruce Willis is the ONLY person to make a return to the franchise and it's obvious that 20th Century Fox wanted to make a cheap hit, it kind of worked. With director Len Wiseman ("Underworld") at the helm, this fourth installment in the once-great "Die Hard" series is simultaneously consumable by today's audience and somewhat gratifying for those who remember McClane's glory days. It doesn't look like a Die Hard film -- heck, it barely even feels like one -- but Wiseman injects enough freshness to make it, at the very least, an entertaining and visually pleasing affair. Bruce Willis returns to the title role, and what can be said about that? The role of John McClane is so ingrained in him at this point, that all he has to do is show up, be Bruce Willis and the job is done. This time around, McClane is matching wits with a terrorist (Timothy Olyphant) outcast from the U.S. government, and Hell-bent on pulling a Tyler Durden and re-setting America's system. Justin Long plays a hacker caught in the path, and despite appearing mis-cast, actually benefits from a different role for a change and has a few exchanges with Willis that keep the movie fresh and give it that "Die Hard" sense-of-humor that is so sorely missed. Kevin Smith has a brief part as a super-nerd prepared for the end of the world and, in all honesty, nearly steals the show. Had they put Smith in Long's role and Long in Smith's, the film may have been the better for it, but I digress. The rest as follows is business as usual for a "Die Hard" movie. McClane proves indestructible, saves the day, so on and so forth. And would you want it any other way?
Despite the action being tamed down to accommodate the more conservative rating, it's still an engaging little affair. Not the best in the series, by any means, but certainly a fun way to kill a few hours with one of the best action heroes Hollywood has to offer. What the movie lacks in originality and story, it makes up for in it's style and in Bruce Willis' charm. A movie that is surely worth a rental, if not more. A solid action film is hard to come by, and despite it's short-comings, "Live Free Or Die Hard" will leave the action-junkie satisfied.