Yippee-ki-yay!

Rating: 9/10 (7 July 2007)

I have grown up with the "Die Hard" films. Seeing a new, modern-day version of "Die Hard" is fantastic. Bruce Willis once again is the charismatic John McClane whose life motto "at the wrong place at the wrong time" fights against a technological-driven terrorist organization who is more interested in hacking into the government files rather than blowing buildings up or holding hostages like the original three. As an "old-fashioned" hero, his sidekick is a hacker freak named Mathew Farrell, wonderfully played by Justin Long. And McClane's new arch enemy is Thomas Gabriel (Matt Olyphant), an overconfident and evil-mannered manipulator.
This unusual difference from the usual "Die Hard" villains' scheme does not dishearten the Die Hard spirit at all. In fact, it makes the movie all the more interesting, supported by intense CGI effects, which delivers cool action sequences of car chases, shoot-outs, and countless explosions. The visual effects are not overdone; they look very realistic rather than being cheesy. There is also a fair amount of great stunts in the midst of all the non-stop action. There are no complaints in that field.
And it is no mistake that this is a PG-13. I was surprised when the rating came out, since the other ones were R's. This means the violence is toned done and McClane does not deliver his F-bombs. But he still manages to get his famous "Yippee-ki-yay" in it. As a Die Hard fan, I was very impressed. The first one and third one though are still the two best ones. 9/10 So, "Yippee-ki-yay!"