Director: John Moore
Starring: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch
Running time: 97 minutes
Certificate: 12A
Synopsis: When John McClane’s son is taken prisoner in Moscow, the veteran cop heads there to find out why. But when the trial is hit by terrorists, McClane finds out Jack is caught up in something top secret and dangerous…
There are several franchises that audiences continue to support long after their natural life has expired, largely due to a mix of good old-fashioned charm, nostalgia, and a sense of fun – DIE HARD is of course one such franchise. But even John McClane’s legacy of solid action cinema won’t withstand the blow dealt by the this fifth installment, a film so bad it is guaranteed to kill off 25 years worth of momentum.
Everything that made the original DIE HARD – and to a lesser extent the sequels – brilliant has been stripped away. Rather than being a film about a man against the odds in a situation he is ill-equipped to resolve, it’s a below-par action movie starring someone else, with John McClane standing at the sidelines making occasional wisecracks about Americans being better than Russians. And aside from one mildly interesting car chase in the opening 20 minutes, the action has none of the excitement of previous installments. Even the divisive DIE HARD 4.0 knew it needed to shoot a helicopter out of the sky with a flying car occasionally to keep things lively.
The relationship between John and his potato-headed son Jack (Courtney) is also a major misstep; while the franchise has traditionally sought to resolve the odd family problem, little script work is done to ensure anyone cares about the duo. And though Courtney is a promising enough actor (his JACK REACHER hitman was decent enough), he’s given nothing to do but spout hammy dialogue and run around a bit. Willis is engaging as ever, but he’s apathetic at best.
Poorly written, poorly shot, and, worst of all, devoid of any sense of fun, A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD is what longtime fans always feared – that the same shit can happen to the same guy one too many times. And if the studios won’t let McClane swear properly for the sake of a 12A rating, we’ll do it for him – fucking awful.
A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD is out now.
bfg666
Feb 14, 2013 at 10:56 pm
Well, this will surely not make me want to regain interest in the franchise, which I lost after watching #3. Didn’t see #4 and I sure as hell won’t see this latest iteration.
Martin Daniel McDonagh
Feb 15, 2013 at 12:36 am
I completely agree, bfg666. Even Bruce agrees. He mumbled his way through an interview on the awful One Show, in which he despondently makes fun of the title… and just about everything else to do with the film!
Very concise review, Mr Fordy. I trust your judgement and words, and won’t be seeing it any time soon, unless someone gives it to me for free. Even then I’ll probably just throw it at them, take all my clothes off (purely for emphasis) and run screaming into the night.
I suppose we must try and remember the good times, as hard as that is when you’re smacked in the face daily by the bad times.