John McClane is back to kick yet more terrorist butt, and Die Hard stands the test of time

Rating: 8/10 (30 June 2007)

Age is a strange thing when it comes to movies, some actors at a young age were perfect for a certain role and years later the same actors find themselves playing the same role that put their names on the map. Stallone, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone and Harrison Ford once again play the same characters that made them famous in the first place, didn't work for Sharon Stone, worked for Stallone in Rocky and the upcoming Rambo, Harrison Ford just started shooting this week, how does Bruce Willis stack up as the hard boiled detective John McClane? Pretty good, actually. Live Free or Die Hard(Die Hard 4.0 overseas) is a great action movie with a few good laughs(save for some stale computer-related jokes) and loads of explosions, much like the original Die Hard. I'm quite surprised this movie got away with a PG-13 rating when violence and profanity abound(though attempts to tone it down are clearly visible throughout the film). The movie starts out with McClane just wanting to pick up a seemingly harmless computer hacker, seems like a regular assignment, which quickly turns sour as McClane and the hacker Matthew are being stalked and hunted down by an unknown group of terrorists led by Thomas Gabriel who seem to have gain complete control over every network in the country basically putting the entire country into a modern-age technological doomsday scenario(it also makes it more frightening when the terrorists broadcast videos of monuments exploding and a montage with various US presidents mixing their quotes to send a scary message). It's up to McClane to track down Gabriel and his gang before it's too late. I enjoyed the plot of this movie, despite some minor setbacks, it's an enjoyable emotional ride that truly delivers, and as an added bonus some nods to the original Die Hard. Bruce Willis, who I have last seen in another blockbuster, which was Ricard Donner's 16 Blocks, doesn't disappoint. Despite John McClane now being a little older, he retains much of his witty jokes, rudeness, his headache-inducing(for the villains, that is) sarcasm and his vulnerability(though this one is a bit over the top). Justin Long also performs well, but I'm not too crazy for the main villain Timothy Olyphant(he was awesome in The Girl Next Door, by the way, but I'm curious how he'll do in the upcoming Hit-man movie), who sometimes gets out shined by his multi-cultural henchmen(namely Maggie Q). Mary Elizabeth Winstead also performs perfectly as McClane's daugther and the rest of the cast do their jobs(even Kevin Smith's brief role). My complaints about the movie are few, the soundtrack which underperformed in my opinion, I can tell you that. Didn't get me hooked up as much as I wanted to but thankfully the action and the dialog made it all worthwhile. Stale computer tech-support jokes and some lame social commentary kinda spoil the fun to some degree(I don't see why some people laughed with US flags everywhere, it is the Fourth of July in the movie's. What's up with people nowadays nagging about the US flag showing up in a movie? People have been jumping over this since Spiderman 3. What gives?). Again, the main villain has some cringe-worthy lines once in a while and that's about it for all my nagging. My advice: Go see this movie. It's well worth it.