Fourth Time Is Still a Charm

Rating: Null/10 (11 February 2013)

Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
*** (out of 4)
The fourth film in the franchise has John McClane (Bruce Willis) asked to pick up a hacker (Justin Long) for questioning by the two of them are soon under attack from an unknown group of men. Soon it becomes clear that a madman (Timothy Olyphant) plans on hacking into every U.S. system to bring the country down. LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD sounds like it would be a complete loser. I mean, after all who thought it would be a good idea to put McClane up against internet hackers? As silly as the story might sound, it actually works extremely well thanks in large part to a pretty nail-biting and tense story that fits into the post 9/11 world of fear where we could be hit hard at anytime. Now, I will freely admit that you've really got to suspend your disbelief because not for a single second did I buy McClane being able to pull off what he does here. I'm not going to give away any spoilers but I'd buy the events in the first three films a lot more than I do this one but director Len Wiseman handles everything so well that you can overlook the unbelievable nature of the picture. What works best is the direction actually because he at least makes you believe that this terrorist group could pull off what they're doing and pretty much attack America on three different levels. I'm really not sure if would be as easy as the bad guys do it but this is just a minor problem. There are some really terrific action scenes scattered along the way including a real nail-bitter on a highway where all lanes are opened and this leads to an amazing crash. Another terrific sequence happens with Willis driving a semi and a fighter jet comes to attack. Willis, as you'd expect, is in fine form as he has no problem fitting into this character. The one-liners and his smart mouth are right on the mark and he manages to also play the more dramatic moments. I thought Long was okay in his role but there's no question that it's rather underwritten. Olyphant makes for a good villain as does Maggie Q in her brief scenes. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is also good in her scenes as the daughter. LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD manages to deliver in the entertainment value, the drama and there's no question that the action is fun. The film has a few flaws along the way but it's still another good entry in a very good series that manages to be different yet keep the same type of fun.