A Good Day to Die Hard // Review
When our ageing, bald hero does get neck-deep in the exact kind of shit that he’s increasingly too old for, don’t worry, McClane Jnr is there to drag him out...
It’s McClane – he’s back, he’s up to no good and he still won’t die. He hasn’t got a black sidekick, Holly’s still not in it and it’s not Christmas, but that doesn’t matter - it’s the fifth instalment in the aptly titled Die Hard series! So what is this one all about? Well, what are any of them about – shooty, shooty, BOOM, ta-dah, yippee ki-yay, roll credits! This time he goes to meet his “wayward son” (this from a man who has single-handedly butchered entire terrorist cells with the kind of grinning, psychotic disregard for human life normally reserved for Columbian cartel enforcers).
When I say “up to no good”, I mean working for the CIA. Cue shooty, shooty, etc. So will it be good? Of course it will! I mean Jesus, I’m just kidding around - it’s the new Die Hard movie! Bruce may be a little old, but his witty comments never are, nor are big explosions, huge guns and fast car chases, all of which this film has coming out the wazoo. When our ageing, bald hero does get neck-deep in the exact kind of shit that he’s increasingly too old for, don’t worry, McClane Jnr is there to drag him out (presumably by his ears).
This wasn’t just another film script that had no hope of being made until they shoe-horned a well known action character into it just to market it, either – after the last film, this was written expressly as part of the series. It’s even filmed for IMAX (although I’m surprised that the pun-fetishists from marketing haven’t changed it to DieMAX).
Throw in some Eastern European bad guys (everyone knows they are the best), some extremely hot Russian girls, and this movie just goes to show that whilst other action films may try hard – they just ain’t Die Hard!
Smiley
