Review: Die Hard 4.0

Nostalgia pulls the crowds and makes the money, but it doesn’t make a film good.

Die Hard 4.0 or, for you yank’s out there, Live Free or Die Hard is the 4^th film featuring Bruce Willis as John McClane in yet another overrated Hollywood ‘blockbuster’. However, before I start making completely opinionated and probably outrageous comments, I like it to be known that I’m a huge Die Hard, Die Hard 2 and Die Hard with a Vengeance fan. Unfortunately, Die Hard 4.0 has let down the ball by succumbing to by-the-numbers execution as it lacks originality and acting skills by ‘not really’ bad guys, and fails to hold credibility as an even slightly believable action film.

Firstly, I would like to know why Americans get to see Live Free or Die Hard while we, meek foreigners as it seems, only get to watch Die Hard 4.0. Is this some Pro-America arrogance or is there a logical reason behind this two titled film? I sincerely hope it’s the latter!

Back to the point… Die Hard 4.0 places McClane into a world he doesn’t belong to and pitches him against anti American Americans who try to act evil and terrorist like but fail. And to top it off they had to throw in a crazy “Asian hooker bitch” with some gun-for-hire Europeans. These so called bad guys just don’t match up to Hans Gruber or his brother (or was it his cousin). I say leave John McClane where he belongs, in the 80s.

Don’t get me wrong, I was thoroughly entertained by the string of over the top and unbelievable action sequences but in the words of Peter Griffin “Come on”. You can’t place John McClane into any ol’ script and hope for the best… The McClane I knew didn’t fly helicopters or take on a F35 with a truck (True Lies anyone?). Now add in seen-that-been-done locations which truly lack any thought and you have yet another pathetic action flick. Ohh… and don’t get me started on the European “hamster”, they could have at least taken a page out of James Bond’s book and made it real instead of a computer animation.

Ahhh, that’s enough moaning…

But to be honest, I wanted this film to be great just like its prequel sum twenty years ago. I wanted it to redefine actions films forever and I wanted it to live up to its name. Unfortunately it didn’t, instead I see it as an average action movie which probably should have starred Tom Cruise instead of McClane (yes, McClane). I can only hope that Indiana Jones and Rambo don’t follow the same path as Die Hard.