It's PG-13, but it's still Die Hard

Rating: 9/10 (29 June 2007)

(may contain possible spoiler in plot outline, but nothing major)
I just got back from Live Free or Die Hard, the new Die Hard flick with the utterly convoluted title. What's with that? Why not Die Hard 4? Why wasn't it Rocky 6? Are they ashamed they made so many sequels? They probably should be.
As I shuffled into the jam-packed theater, I was beset by a certain apprehension that the Internet made clear was shared by legions of Die Hard fans: that this movie wasn't going to be Die Hard -- but instead that the uncharacteristic PG-13 rating would denigrate this movie into Die Feeble or Die Frail.
Fortunately, the demotion to PG-13 did NOT affect the level of violence or testosterone too much. The only thing notably missing from the flick is the F-bomb, which gets substituted with "shit", a suitable replacement that ranks only slightly below than the F-bomb on "The Big List O' Words Your Mom Slapped You For."  The plot line revolves around a greasy hacker kid who unwittingly writes a line of code that's hi-jacked by a group of rogue terrorists who intend to wage technological warfare on the United States by shutting down power grids, causing the stock market to collapse, and creating anarchy. The main baddie's motivation stems from the fact that he tried to convince Homeland Security to pay more attention to easily exploitable holes in their computer networking. They didn't listen to him, so, to prove a point, he hacked into their system and gave them a preview of the havoc that could be caused. The government's response was to vilify him, so this time, it's personal, and he's out to do as much damage as possible.
John McClane's mission this time around is to protect the hacker kid, whom the baddies are attempting to kill. Why are they trying to kill him? Because he is the only person with the knowledge of how to stop the technological chaos.
What follows is a series of cliff-hanger moments and heart-pounding action scenes rendered with believable and breathtaking special effects that are amazing to behold.
Bruce Willis is on top of his game. His McClane is older, wiser, and balder. Willis does a marvelous job of generating empathy for his character; the audience in the theater I attended was putty in his hands, clapping and cheering when he spouted his soon-to-be-classic one-liners.
Live Free or Die Hard can almost be called a buddy flick. Much of the humor stems from the contrasts between McClane and hacker kid, Matt Farrell. It's cool that the punchlines are generated from the differences in age and temperament, rather than tired racial quirks explored by so many other forgettable buddy flicks.
The movie is suspenseful, packed with action, and despite its PG-13 rating, lots of dudes (and some dudettes!) get wasted in brutal fashion. They perhaps spent a little less time actually showing the baddies suffering from their wounds, but I didn't really notice it.
The story is a bit crazy, and one gets the sense that the incredible feats that McClane pulls off are unlikely to happen in "real life", but hey, it's Die Hard. It's not meant to be micro-analyzed for realism. It's meant to be enjoyed for what it is. A kick-ass, balls to the wall action flick. I definitely felt I got my money's worth, and I can, with relief, assure you that the PG-13 rating didn't really tarnish the movie in any major way. The majority of the acting is passably good, but Willis's charisma shines brightly. He was born to play this role. The CG effects are really fantastic, and none of them looked obviously "computerized", which is something I feel really detracts from the immersion of a lot of movies.
If you're up for some laughs, some thrills, and some "holy !@$%, that looks amazing!" moments, go see it.