Best DIE HARD sequel

Rating: 7/10 (6 July 2008)

As with any big franchise, the follow-on films always turn out to be a challenge. It is very rare that a sequel will top the original, but films like ALIENS and GODFATHER PART II are two examples that prove the exception.
DIE HARD 4.0 has had to misfortune of being released when the very genre it's original film inspired and created has evolved to even greater spectacle with little or none of the intelligent dramatic punch that personified the 1988 film. The Bond series reinvented itself throughout the subsequent decades and CASINO ROYALE has paved the way for potential follow-on films.
The fourth film sees John McClane brought in to escort a computer hacker to the FBI after a series of mysterious computer-related explosions kill off some of his ilk. It transpires that a crazed Bill Gates type figure is holding the US and world to ransom by shutting down the computer systems. It's a theme that has already been explored to some degree in SNEAKERS in which the film focused on whether it was the holders of information that control the military and political landscape.
Cue big stunts, visual effects and that trademark humour that is fluid throughout all three films. Whilst the fourth film still lacks some of the punch and some script logistics raise an eyebrow (how on earth did they allow a drunk ex-cop like McClane to hold a pilot's licence - but it is the movies - suspend your disbelief!!) there is still much to enjoy. The climax is right out of BAD BOYS meets TRUE LIES but why complain when this is a sequel to the film that started the modern action genre.