Die Hard 4: Revenge of the Nerds

Rating: 8/10 (1 September 2007)

Prior to its release, Die Hard 4 (Live Free Or Die Hard to you folks on the other side of the pond) seemed like a colossal failure waiting to happen. The bad guys weren't Euro fanatics or Colombian drug lords, but cyber terrorists. The director was Len Wiseman, whose biggest claim to fame are the two Underworld films. Bruce Willis is no longer the sprightly bad ass he was back when he first visited the Nakatomi Plaza and worst of all, the rating was PG-13. PG-13? For a Die Hard movie? The most grimly violent and foul mouthed action franchise of all time? This can't work can it? Well, after months of sitting around with my fingers crossed chanting "please don't suck," it is a tremendous relief to say that Die Hard 4 is an absolute blast. Sort of.
Now, a plot revolving around 'cyber terrorism' conjures up images of fat, sweaty, science-fiction fans sat in their parent's basements typing for two hours, (and true to form, Kevin Smith makes an appearance, quite a good one too). Certainly, there are points where the entire film seems like one colossal war between the good nerds (those with toy collections that still live with their parents) and the bad nerds (those who hire mercenaries to kill the competition) with John McClane stuck in the middle, but nevertheless this is still an action film through and through. Wiseman handles the set pieces with aplomb and there a couple of sequences so utterly awesome that they could quite easily stand toe-to-toe with the fire hose abseiling of the original. McClane's ruck with oriental lady assassin Maggie Q for instance is a riot, an absolutely punishing duel that culminates in an inventive lift shaft/truck altercation. And then of course, there's the spectacular finale involving a big rig and a jet fighter - without a shadow of a doubt, the highlight of the film and sure to be propping up a few 'best action scene' categories in the end of the year polls, even if it does ape True Lies a bit.
Action aside, the biggest reason for seeing this film is to catch Bruce Willis reprising his most iconic character. Appropriately, the new millennium's McClane is bitter and tired. He's still capable of cracking wise and throwing down with the best of them, but he's even more cynical than before. His previous heroism has done him no favours, landing him with little more than a pat on the back, an ex-wife and kids who don't use his surname. Sadly though, he's not quite as vulnerable as the previous entries, coming across more as an indestructible super-cop rather than a blue collar everyman. One scene for instance sees McClane throwing himself out of a speeding car: if this were 1988, it would have been followed by an agonising sequence where Willis pops his shoulder back into place and winces in agony, biting back tears of pain. Now though he simply gets up and proceeds to the next set piece with only a trickle of blood rolling down the side of his head.
And this of course is where serious Die Hard fans will have their biggest complaint justified, as this entry is spectacularly blood-free. People tend to die off screen, blasted out of windows or minced up in turbines, Wiseman pulling the camera away at the pivotal moment to show Justin Long's exasperated side kick gasping in disbelief. The chief villain's death in particular is a huge let down: one hastily edited shot and he's down, no blood, no anguish, no anything. There isn't even any swearing, the "yippee kay yay" trademark edited in such a way as to make it a cute buzz-phrase rather than a glorious victory snarl.
That aside, Die Hard 4 is still a hugely enjoyable slice of summer fun. Dave Grohl lookalike Justin Long has a natural charm and Kevin Smith is on scene stealing form. Timothy Olyphant falls short though, stuck in the role of the super-geek bad guy who could only be less threatening if he were made entirely of wet noodles. He's the sort of villain who tries to remain aloof and threatening, but always gets his bigger mates to do the dirty work; a villain for the Ipod generation if you will.
Very enjoyable therefore but not the blitzkrieg return to form it should have been. This is Die Hard for the post-9/11 world: the streets are filled with chaos and the emergency services are overwhelmed as the social system collapses, but it's also a politically correct and serviceable portrayal of modern terrorism that twelve year olds could watch with their parents. Terrific fun yes, but it would be nice if they refrained from smoothing down the edges next time.