The weakest of the series, but not a bad movie as such

Rating: 5/10 (30 April 2011)

Die Hard is brilliant, Die Hard 2 is great and Die Hard with a Vengeance is good. This film is decent enough, but something was missing.
I get the good things out of the way first. The film does look great, even with a lot of blues going on, the location shooting is striking and the editing and cinematography is crisp. The music compliments the film wonderfully with some nostalgic choices of songs and motifs, and while I didn't quite feel the chemistry between Bruce Willis and Justin Long both of them give performances that are quite good. The film is very well directed as well, and the action has enough thrills to please.
However, while the action is thrilling there isn't enough of the claustrophobic or suspenseful atmosphere to make it go the extra mile. The script also feels quite weak, there is the occasionally cheesy or clichéd line but the real problem is there is nothing really memorable or quotable. Same with the plot, which due to some predictable plot points, uneven pacing and a lazy ending doesn't have the impact the action does. I was especially disappointed though in Timothy Olyphant's villain, Olyphant is not a bad actor as such but not only is he given little to do other than sneer or be wimpy but Thomas Gabriel for me is the weakest written and developed of all the Die Hard villains.
Overall, I didn't hate it, didn't love it, in fact my reaction was kind of "meh". 5/10 Bethany Cox