For an actioner is it is... for Die Hard....

Rating: 5/10 (22 November 2007)

Alright, I'm going to start this review off with a confession. I was one of those people who worried that the PG-13 rating would hurt the series. The bottom line is that YES IT DOES.
I can say I'm one of the lucky ones who waited for DVD and watched the unrated version. I enjoyed it. It wasn't anywhere near Die Hard or the ingenious Die Hard with A Vengeance, but for the most part it was an entertaining movie where Justin Long and Bruce Willis worked well together. Despite what some people may say Justin Long is a likable actor and Bruce Willis always manages to bring dimension to John McClane. Even if Len Wisemen and crew think they're working on a new Underworld film where almost everone is indestructible.
As an actioner, I enjoyed it. It doesn't hold a match to "Crank" or the even better "Shoot Em Up", but it does manage to have it's moments.
The problem with "Live Free or Die Hard". It's not Die Hard, and by that I mean that this is what happens when the name Die Hard is placed before an overblown Hollywood actioner that suits more the name of Michael Bay then a successor of John McTiernan. Is Len Wiseman a capable director. The Underworld series had me wondering. However, I think "Live Free or Die Hard" shows he can direct. He just shouldn't direct "Die Hard" films.
Watch the first three and then pop in this one. You'll see what I mean. Die Hard had a gritty feel to it. That feel, the edginess, the unabashed coolness is lost here.
Timothy Olyphant cannot hold a flame to Hans Gruber, the original and still best, Die Hard villain. He throws henchmen out at McClane and McClane dispatches them all in fights and shoot outs that range from thrilling to over-the-top. Olyphant's "Thomas Gabriel" looks like a boy trying to do a mans' job. Here's a man trying to pull off a "firewall" (as Justing Long explains: A firewall is a fourstep shut down of "the system" or America by attacking it's infrastructure) and much like a guy throwing internet threats, we're not imposed by him. To make my point, even his girlfriend last longer then him against McClane. And to the people who think I'm being sexist, McClane beats her up, hits her with a car, runs that car through a wall and like Kate Beckinsale from Underworld, she just keeps fighting. Olyphant on the other hand... while Bruce Willis takes him out easier then James Bond takes out assassins.
On a base level, I liked this film. Compared to the first Die Hards, I was sorely disappointed. People who were fans of the original might be hard-pressed to like this. Fans of Len Wisemen's work will enjoy it. The younger generation and the teen crowd might get a kick out of it.
If you do by chance rent this, watch the unrated, not the PG-13 cut. The film released in theatres was a trimmed-down joke. And yes, they did cut out McClane's signature line.
Yippee-Kai-Ya-mother*bang* While it has it's problems: the unrated version redeems itself to a degree.