Second best in the series

Rating: 8/10 (20 August 2008)

It took me over a year of watching this film to decide that it is my second favorite in the "Die Hard" series (I rank them 1st, 4th, 2nd, 3rd). "Live Free or Die Hard" is still inferior to the original, but this part four has become a favorite of mine. I honestly wasn't sure how good this film would be. I felt Bruce Willis was getting too old to play John McClane anymore, and I thought this concept of bad guys virtually shutting down the U.S. would be too serious for a somewhat humorous action film like this one. Nevertheless, this film works really well. It's better than parts 2 and 3 because it has a greater amount of character development. The action scenes are some of the most memorable ones you will ever see (the helicopter scene, the chase with the jet on the freeway, etc.). Justin Long proved to be a way better co-star than I would have expected, and he adds a more hip type of humor to lighten up this film. Bruce Willis plays his role nearly as good as he first did 20 years ago. It's not nearly a perfect film, however, since the bad guys lack the humor and brilliant acting that Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) had in the first film. Fortunately, the violence and language in this film are far less than that found in the first three films. A fun film, and the best "Die Hard" since the first one, but not nearly as monumental as that one.
*** out of ****