Eighties hero still cuts it in a digital age

Rating: 7/10 (12 April 2009)

I loved this film. It's big, loud, brash, exciting & big! I have seen action films that are better conceived & believable than 'Die Hard 4.0' but this is just damn good huge-budget fun. You can see where they spent their money making this movie. I must admit that I'm writing this review after a second viewing of the film and it got better.
John McClane is one of the best original action heroes still going and this film has the responsibility to hark back to action films of the eighties in the form of dragging John McClane into the 21st Century & the Digital age. It works very well. Looking at Bruce Willis performing his most famous character is like looking at a time capsule in the wrong film but he makes us believe in him again.
He gives new style cyber terrorists a taste of a good old-fashioned Eighties action thumping and wethe audience loves it. Hints of the original soundtrack litter the film in places and the inclusion of John's daughter into the script is much needed to give him a personal reason to continue to the end.
John McClane speaks of being 'That man' and he proves himself to be one of the greatest action heroes in the history of film whether you like the films or not. Obviously this is not as good or pioneering as the first 'Die Hard' but it is better than 'Die Hard 2' and on a par with 'Die Hard with a Vengeance.' There are so many more stunts and explosions in this film and that's why we love it, we don't necessarily love it for the storyline or the logic of the whole thing we love it because it looks damn good and the spectacle is a great one.
Suspend your common sense & logic when watching this film and see what John McClane provides us with. He gets thrown through windows and out of buildings, shot at by numerous henchmen, fights with a 'Ninja Asian chick', has bombs going off all around him and has cars thrown at him! But coming from the eighties style action films, naturally he survives to fight the good fight.
Where else would you see a car being used as a missile to take down a helicopter and McClane driving a juggernaut being chased and attacked by a Fighter Jet as an entire freeway system crashes down all around him. Okay, obvious comparisons to True Lies & other high-budget action films but it just looks so damn good on film.
This may not be a hugely worthy successor to the Die Hard Trilogy, even the filmmakers mention that the script was not written as a Die Hard film, but it is proof that Hollywood can still make good big action films and excite audiences with what we see on screen. (A jeep sliding down an elevator shaft...very cool)
It's quite funny in places, action & stunt packed, good fun and harks back to an era where an Eighties cop wouldn't think twice about hitting his commanding officer. Not a perfect film by any means and slightly incomprehensible but just good fun! Not the best action movie ever made by a long shot but a very worthy addition to the DVD collection. 8/10