Leave Brain at the door

Rating: 7/10 (23 November 2007)

I honestly don't know what to think about Live Free or Die Hard. It's a movie with no story to it.You need a hell of a good performance to pull this one off and we get it from Willis, who fits into this role like he never left it.
The plot if you can call it a plot is cyber terrorists trying to take over Social Security to insure a billion dollar heist. McClane is brought into it when he takes a hacker named Farell to D.C to be questioned by the FBI over a systems malfunction. McClane becomes entangled in all out mayhem when his hacker becomes the target of numerous assassination attempts. The man behind this evil plan is an ex-FBI agent named Thomas Gabriel. Gabriel knew too much and was "crucified" for his observations on the vulnerability of the Government's files. When Gabriels' plans go sour, he takes McClanes' daughter hostage and it becomes a personal battle.
I was entertained by this movie but I can only really give it a mild recommendation. I just found the lack of a real story or villain frustrating. The evil plan serves only as a plot piece and not a real threat to our country. The entire movie is really just McClane shooting henchmen. We don't get any insight into how he has changed over the years like we did in the surprisingly outstanding Rocky Balboa. He just seems up and rearing to go and besides for Bruce's bald head and a few grunts, age serves no place in this story.
I am pleased to say that Live Free or Die Hard does not use much of 9/11 at all. I was afraid with a title like that it would try to be a patriotic war on terror fluff film.
Gabriel is an incredibly weak villain. Timothy Olyphant's portrayal is only menacing to the lowest degree. We can tell his performance is meant to be evil but we just aren't scared or threatened by him. I don't expect Hans Gruber but I expect someone who can give McClane a ride for his money.
The pros for this movie are simply that it is a fun way to waste time. McClane is a superhero this time around and you have to except the fact that this movie is void of any shed of reality. Sometimes it's just fun watching Bruce Willis climb an Air Force fighter plane...