Die Hard or Die Soft?

Rating: 7/10 (26 June 2010)

While I found Live Free Or Die Hard entertaining, I definitely think that the people behind the film lost sight of many of things that made the series special. Die Hard is like a brand name and like any brand there are certain things that people expect from it.
I know this is all old news. Countless people before me have complained about the PG-13 rating, the toned down language and violence and everything. There are far too many logistical issues like having Maggie Q get hit by a car and smashed into an elevator shaft with out a scratch. Also a big problem is the lousy music in this one. It was dry and boring. The composer utterly failed to capture the pace and excitement that has become a trademark of the Die Hard series. The only times anything resembling quality music occurs is when the composer reuses themes from the previous films, but even then he fails to capture their original intensity. The film also relies too much on popcorn action when the original did a great job of building suspense. An example is the scene where John is trying to smash the glass to get Al's attention while two gun man come into the room shooting. John must get to Al before he leaves but forces are preventing him from doing so. This kind of suspense is totally replaced in the new film for typical brainless action.
These problems are more on the surface but the real problem rests deeper. Die Hard was about your every day guy put into an extreme situation that forces him to become a hero. This guy is tough but at the same time vulnerable and human. Everything thing he did and survived through is unlikely but not impossible. In the new film, they have basically made John into a super human. He takes on a handful of people at a time, rides on the wings of jets, falls 50 feet scraping down a cement road, and all of this with just a few scrapes. In the original, John had a hard enough time just beating a few guys and he always came out of his encounters bloody. He never survived something that was impossible. By making him a super human we have lost the ability to relate with John and imagine ourselves in his shoes. Part of the success of the original came from the great job they did making John relatable and having the audience ask themselves what would they do in his situation.
Again, I did enjoy the film as a summer popcorn flick. It had some great stunts and action set pieces. It was good to see Bruce Willis back in John McClane's shoes. I'd even say that it's better than most of the action crap coming from Hollywood lately. As a typical action film it's not bad, but as a Die Hard film it is disappointing. Though the unrated version corrected some issues, most of the issues rest deeper in the narrative. I hope if they were to make another film that they might try analyzing what made the first film such a classic.