Feel good action

Rating: 6/10 (6 July 2007)

Mr. Wiseman does not have much of a directorial credit attached to him apart from the b grade vampire franchise 'Underworld' and being the assistant director of the 1996 blockbuster Independence Day. But that does not put off the studio bosses of Hollywood, as they provide him the opportunity to direct the fourth edition of the cult action franchise 'die hard'. As a 'Die hard' fan myself I know it is not rocket science to direct die hard, but still the die hard films had a certain personality attached to it. Its central character john McClain was not heroic and was a vulnerable person. He used to not get the sudden bout of heroism and perform some death defying stunts, instead they existed but as an urgent act required in certain situation, which had a certain charm of itself.
Come this summer and everything has changed. Sure it comes as a surprise that producers planned the fourth edition now, with lead star Bruce Willis well over his fifties and in no position to run half way through New York like die hard 3. But that did not stop Len to have a vivid imagination of the things john (Willis) is going to do. John is having a great time killing and blowing anyone and everything that comes his way this time no matter how old he has become. John this time around has to escort a teenage hacker and bring him over to F.B.I which seemed routine but ends up being john's routine gun fight with the bad guys. This time he is fighting to save America from an internet based terrorist who is using a complex program named 'firesale' to destabilize America by controlling the communication systems, the natural resources & power and finally the money. As America goes down, it only needs the one man army of john McClain to save itself with a little bit of help from the boy hacker and john's daughter. With all the ingredients in place to put America back in the Stone Age with someone along with a good sense of humor to save it, the audience has nothing to worry about. Everything has been taken care off. John is going to fight through anything I mean even a natural gas disaster or an F-35 fighter attack over a multi-storied bridge to save America. He is not going to stop at anything and he is ready to joke around anytime he wants even when he is hanging around a crashing car in the elevator hole. As the movie progresses the hacker boy also tries to take a few potshots to crack a joke around a little. With john's daughter also imitating her father's sense of humor around the bad guys you pretty much know the terrorist's smiling days are over as the good guys have been selected to be the immortals of this studio franchise. This is your typical late 80's and 90's action movie added with huge stunts but not a die hard movie. The patient building of the next sequence is gone and there is no time to catch a breath as everything is packed in and the terrorist sends trouble from each direction with one touch of computer mouse click.
But it all works. Not because it deserved, but that the audiences felt different. With this decade belonging to the matrix styled sfx actions this old wine comes with some freshness as everyone missed the hard hitting punches, full blast of cars, chopper, buildings, and bridges. Due to which everything felt surprising. Make no mistake, if this movie would have been released around 1997 it would have been just another action release but circa 2007 it is a big release along with die hard name attached to it everyone is eager and the audience is ready to lap it up. With these advantages by default the movie does not disappoint on the action front either. The actions are big and well executed and with john McClain around you know there is nothing to worry about. So just sit back and relax. John will be fine.