Originally Reviewed
Monday December 24, 2007
Bruce Willis joins the list of aging actors attempting to resurrect their near dead careers by returning to the roles that made them. Live Free or Die Hard tops the list of the most over the top action films of possibly all time and never shows signs of slowing down in the least. Its outrageous action sequences and mediocre script make it a fun summer blockbuster but it's quickly forgotten in the midst of greater action films.
When John McClane is sent to pick up and deliver computer geek Matt Farrell to the FBI he would have never thought he'd end up in the middle of a possible economic implosion. It's all at the hand of mad man Thomas Gabriel who warned Congress that action needed to be taken to protect the United States from being crippled from the inside by a take over of its computer systems. Congress dismissed his claims as hysterical and Gabriel was looked at as a joke, so he decided to prove his warnings and used his knowledge of the system he helped to design to quickly crimple a country dependent on technology. The only two people to stop Gabriel from crushing the United States economy and making off with billions of dollars are McClane and his nerdy sidekick.
I have never been a fan of the Die Hard series; I've seen parts of the original but found the script so corny that I never watched the whole thing. Live Free or Die Hard has a much better script but the action sequences are so blatantly unbelievable and over the top that it soon became completely ridiculous. For example the scenes near the end of the film with the fighter jet destroying a freeway overpass in an attempt to destroy a semi truck that McClane is driving, and then McClane jumping out of the semi onto the jet as the freeway turns to rubble...yea that could happen. While most action films tend to over exaggerate I have never seen anything go as far as this film does, James Bond looks totally believable compared to it. While it's a fun popcorn flick for a Saturday night, and the banter between Willis and Justin Long is enjoyable, if you're looking for a smart, intelligent action film look elsewhere.
7/10
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3 Comments:
When you said you'd be reviewing a Maggie Q film I think the vegas odds on this film were definitely even money :P. I figure it was a coin flip between this and MI3 :P.
Though, honestly, I never would have pegged you for a non-Die Hard guy. I absolutely love the series (perhaps that should have been a sign). But I think this one was a bit too meh for me. I think I gave it about a 6 or 7ish.
:) Well the second review isn't MI3, believe it or not I haven't watched MI2 yet, not a big Cruise fan. So place your bets for this afternoons second review!
I've never really sat down a watched a whole Die Hard film other than this, so I wouldn't label myself as a Die Hard hater yet, but the parts of the first film I saw were a little too cheesy for me.
What do you mean? People don't hang on the wing of a flying fighter jet and then jump 200 ft down to the ground, leaving them unscathed and ready to kick some ass? I do that everyday for breakfast!!!!
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