"Live Free or Die Hard" provides excellent thrills and laughs in a summer of disappointing, bloated blockbusters...

Rating: 8/10 (2 July 2007)

Comparing the new film "Live Free or Die Hard" to the 1988 classic "Die Hard" seems kind of pointless to me (I have yet to see "Die Hard 2: Die Harder" or "Die Hard With A Vengeance). They are two films born of different eras, each with their own goals in mind. "Die Hard" is obviously a classic, but LFODH does a great job of providing the goods for an entertaining summer action flick.
The plot, such as it is: Former US hacker Thomas Gabriel (an unimposing Timothy Olyphant) decides to bring down the computer system of America and cause chaos. It's up to New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) and geeky hacker Matt Farrell (Justin Long) to stop Gabriel's plan, especially considering that the baddies get hold of John's daughter Lucy (a feisty Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Much gunfire, explosions, and fistfights ensue.
One of the things I liked about the movie is that McClane and Farrell truly need each other. McClane is behind the times, described at one point as "a Timex watch in a digital world", while Farrell is insanely up-to-date. McClane provides fisticuffs, Farrell supplies hacker skills. I liked their budding friendship, and Farrell has a surprisingly effective character arc as he grows a backbone; one of the best scenes in the film has him refusing to help Gabriel complete his plans. Long is a funny actor, and he has a good rapport with Willis, who proves once again that he came out of the womb in order to play this character. Winstead makes a fine McClane-in-training, although her first scene is a little creepy thanks to the script.
The bad guys, alas, do not fear as well. While I suppose Olyphant is fine doing malevolent stares and speaking in a half-menacing whisper, he doesn't really prove to be much a challenge for McClane. His two best scenes come in a confrontation with McClane over a web cam and when he sighs to Lucy, "I can't talk to him, *you* talk to him," like a disappointed parent. Maggie Q has a great fight scene with Willis, and parkour expert Cyrus Rafaelli has some cool scenes, and his death is kind of magnificent.
Director Len Wiseman (the "Underworld" series) does a fine job with the action scenes, although even I have to admit that the business with the fighter jet seems superfluous. What he's not so good at is tension and danger, save for the opening apartment battle and McClane and Farrell's infiltration of one of Gabriel's targets.
The PG-13 rating does not dampen the experience too much. Yes, it'd be nice to hear McClane drop f-bombs by the dozens, but at least he gets to say his most famous line (albeit slightly muffled). Strangely, I didn't notice the supposed dubbing errors that many critics have pointed out; maybe I'm just not good at that sort of thing. The violence pushes the rating about as far as it go, and it's satisfyingly brutal.
"Live Free or Die Hard" is stalwartly old-fashioned. Like it's hero, it's a throwback to simpler times, a breath of fresh air in a season of bloated CGI extravaganzas (although I am still looking forward to Transformers, which looks to combine new-school effects with old-school sensibilities).