Live Free or Die Hard doesn’t open for another week here in the U.K. so it’s going to be a little longer until I get my review of the flick up on the site. Personally, I think the film looks worse the more I see and read about it and it probably didn’t help that here in Britain the other day they screened Die Hard on TV and it just reminded me of how great the original and especially the character of John McClane really is.

So Steve’s kindly sent in his review of the film here and thankfully he says Bruce Willis’ performance as McClane really holds the film together but just as we all thought it would be, it’s too action orientated and rather shallow…

July 4th looms and the Summer of Sequels trudges on like some unstoppable cinematic lizard or giant ape, destroying everything in it’s path. And while we should all be hunkered down in some bunker fortified with DVDs and HD TVs, it seems that we as moviegoers can’t resist the lure of the summer blockbuster. I can’t really blame us. I’m part of the generation that grew up in the post-Spielberg dawn of the blockbuster. Mindless summer cinema has long been the lifeblood of this young cinephile. What can I say? Even against my better judgement I’m helpless to resist the lure of the epic car chase, the mindless explosion, the swinging superhero. But with no fewer than 20 sequels being released in the scant four months of the summer movie season, even this self-professed blockbuster whore can feel the backhand of the Hollywood pimp slap. Nevertheless, like a moviegoing David I step into the ring with the latest cinema Goliath here to pummel my senses and drain my wallet. MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD.

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD (or DIE HARD 4.0 for you folks on the other side of the pond) arrives over a decade after the previous installment, and delivers the long awaited return of Bruno, the man himself, Bruce Willis, as cinematic icon John McClane. As per usual, Mr. Wrong-Place-At-The-Wrong-Time finds himself smack dab in the middle of a terrorist plot and takes it upon himself to Army of One his way through the whole doggone affair. Said affair being helmed this time by Len “Mr. Kate Beckinsale” Wiseman. Which if you’re at all familiar with (or at least aware of) his previous work on the UNDERWORLD flicks, should tell you all you need to know about the quality of this picture. If you’re anything like me, then the announcement of Mr. Wiseman on this picture sent up red flags about the fate of one of my favorite franchises of all time.

LFODH is long on style and short on substance. Willis’ appearance as McClane in the picture is rather arbitrary. Because they couldn’t call it DIE HARD without McClane, right? We’re introduced to ol’ John-John as he’s paying a visit to his wayward daughter at college in New Jersey. In the middle of the night. While she’s making out with some guy in a parking lot. Why? Well, because, of course. McClane’s convenient placement in the Garden State makes him just the right man to pick up a computer hacker (Justin Long) who is a suspected link to a cyberterrorist attack. Much DIE HARDing ensues.
The aforementioned cyber-terror plot is a serviceable - if somewhat implausible - scenario and the preceding mayhem it causes is rather over the top, but a natural escalation of previous installments. If DIE HARDER was ‘Die-Hard-In-An-Airport’ and WITH A VENGEANCE was ‘Die-Hard-In-New-York’, then LIVE FREE is ‘Die-Hard-In-A-Country’. While it is certainly arguable whether or not this is the right direction for the franchise, it’s kind of understandable for a third sequel in an aging franchise. I’m sure it’s the fear of many a Fox exec that a smaller scale Die Hard would be underwhelming to today’s ‘Bigger Is Better’ bred audiences. And that’s exactly the picture we get.

I’m sure most of us will agree that what we want from a Die Hard picture is something a little more character driven. After all, that’s why we fell in love with the franchise as movie goes, right? It wasn’t JUST the balls-to-the-wall action that kept us glued to our seats (although it certainly didn’t hurt), but it was the plight of everyman John McClane in these impossible scenarios. Unfortunately, the script eschews any and all character to get us to the next big action scene. What little character development manages to peek through the rubble generally only occurs between Willis and Long as they are en route to the next showdown.

Like the script, Wiseman is clearly only interested in the next big explosion. Although, a quick glance at his oeuvre will tell you that. Wiseman clearly comes from the Michael Bay school of direction. The man is quite obviously a fan of the slick, sweeping dolly rodeo. The obvious detriment is that camera movement is never motivated by character or story beats, it’s ever-moving because it’s COOL.

Fortunately, the set pieces ARE cool. Yeah, they’re definitely over the top, bordering on cartoony - almost comic book. But they work because they’re kept in the Die Hard spirit. The action is brutal and hard-hitting. The heatedly contended PG-13 rating doesn’t hurt these scenes because the film was clearly shot R rated. The intensity is there. What mostly makes it work, however, is Willis himself. It’s in these scenes that McClane truly comes to life. It’s clear that Willis knows this character inside and out, because despite the lack of any character arc for McClane in the script, Willis’ performance actually brings a subtle sense of who this man is at this point in his life at his worst moments. And that’s really the saving grace of the film. It’s when McClane is talking to himself while driving a car into a helicopter or cackling madly while dangling from an SUV in an elevator shaft that you start to feel like the guy is starting to lose his mind a little. Like this man who can’t talk to his wife or deal with his daughter is only truly happy when he’s beating the unholy hell out of terrorists. After all he’s been through in three films, you believe this lonely man would throw himself at such impossible odds with reckless abandon. It’s who he IS. It’s where he’s at home. So in a weird way, the lack of personal material for McClane in this piece coupled with Willis’ performance actually gives you an interesting peek at the madness of this character. Yeah, I know that’s a little metatextual and more than a little subjective to my viewing experience, but, hey, it’s there.

As for the rest of the cast, Long shines most next to Willis. I think his comic pedigree really helped him to hold his own with Willis, and actually shape out a character that’s kind of a modern day analogue to McClane’s everyman, a skinny computer geek doing what he can against the cyberfoes. Tim Olyphant gives an understated performance as the film’s Big Bad, and while he can’t hold a candle to Alan Rickman or Jeremy Irons’ charismatic baddies, or even Bill Sadler’s quiet menace, he does a serviceable job with what he’s given. Mary Winstead’s Lucy McClane is more of a plot device than anything, but she does what she can. More akin to her FINAL DESTINATION 3 performance than her surprisingly likable cheerleader in Quentin Tarantino’s DEATH PROOF, but I suppose that’s understandable given who’s behind the camera. The rest of the cast does a fine job delivering exposition and collecting a paycheck.

Definitely the weakest and most shallow entry in the Die Hard saga. But a fun rollercoaster overall and a somewhat welcome and slightly old school action alternative to the bloated, plot packed, story lite blockbuster fare as of late. Worth your time if you’re a fan of Die Hard, or just like things going boom. If you’re hesitant or just mildly interested, or fear an affront to your cinematic tastes, then save your time and a couple of bucks and wait for rental or scope it out on pay cable. Otherwise, check your rightly earned, sequel fatigued cynicism at the door, and have a time watching John-John McClane blow shit up.

The rating: a hesitant…

THREE STARS OUT OF FIVE.

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