Exciting, but nothing new here !!

Rating: 7/10 (23 July 2007)

I cannot say I didn't enjoy the return of Bruce Willis and his indestructible NYPD cop - John McClane. The action scenes are well staged, the acting certainly on par with the better action thrillers (MI:, James Bond, etc.) and apparently many of the stunts involve real stunt work. I do not know which is which (real vs. CGI) as the line between actual human endurance and movie hero endurance has long since been removed. And that is one of the main reasons why these blockbuster action flicks have lost some appeal. How can I ever be on the 'edge of my seat' when the hero, and whoever is in his charge, avoid 2,000 - 3,000 bullets, flying cars, bombed apartments/vehicles, helicopter and jet attacks, collapsing bridges, self-inflicted gun shot wounds and my personal favorite.......the 100 foot fall. Yes, the fall is usually broken by 4 or 5 semi-soft items, but in this movie it happened to 4 different people!!
OK, a bit unfair not to enter without complete suspension of belief. But it gets old to see the bad guys immediately shoot 20 -30 people without a word, then always have John and his troupe "drop your gun and come with me"!! The movie has some good quips ("enough of this king foo sh--"), a fun comic turn by Kevin Smith and plenty of exciting effects, so still a 7/10 for me. A 1/2 hour less running time wouldn't have hurt (maybe less is more?). But with each passing blockbuster, the thrills are harder and harder to buy into.