A good movie, but not a Die Hard movie

Rating: 7/10 (2 March 2008)

The goods: 1) Bruce Willis: McClaine is getting older, but he's still the McClaine we all know and love. He wise cracks and kicks butt.
2) The action: Len Wisemen was committed to making all of the collisions and explosions real. For the most part, he succeeded. The pace is good, never lagging or tiring.
The bads: 1) The music: Marco Beltrami is a fine composer and his score is top notch. The problem is that it's not a Die Hard score. It sounds too much like leftovers from Underworld: Evolution.
2) The antagonist: Thomas Gabriel was a potentially great bad guy, but Timothy Olyphant plays him too stoically. He hardly ever shows any real interest in what he does.
3) Mary Elizabeth Winstead: Quite frankly, she's too young. McClaine easily looks fifty, so why does his daughter look eighteen? She does an OK job (not great, mind you), but you have to stretch your imagination a bit to accept that she is a McClaine.
All in all, Live Free or Die Hard is a good thrill ride. It's nice to see cars running into helicopters and such ridiculous stunts. Of course, it's flawed, but--realistically--what movie isn't?