RojoDie Hard 4
This is an action film. This film pretty much craps over The Bourne Ultimatum in a big way and since that was the last big budget action film I saw before this I will use it as a yard stick.
Bruce Willis is never better that he is as John McClane, beaten and bloodied taunting the bad guy (incredibly poor casting, Tim Oyphant) killing his way to the top, this is the formula of Die Hard, this is the formula used, this is the formula that works.
Once again McClane finds himself the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time, one again he takes the events personally, once again he will put himself on the line to get the job done. The Die Hard movies are kick ass!
The stunt work, the action scenes, the script even, all shadow Bourne. Comic relief in the guise of Justin Long the perfect funny man to Willis’s straight, and I got the biggest soft spot for Cliff Curtis he is one of my favourite actors, and yes I am bias.
Die Hard isn’t pretentious like Bourne, it is what it is and tries to be no more. This is an out and out action movie, it never loses sight of this fact. Bourne is constantly saying this is a little more than you’re average action movie when in fact it is actually a little less.
Many times through this I was rewinding the action going did I just see that, dude that was kick ass. The final thing that may go “hell yeah” and leap of the couch punching the air was how Willis dispatches with the last bad guy pure McClane, pure Die Hard.
Ok so not the best action film in the world, action sequences that aren’t on par with say the Protector but still a great Hollywood action flick. I wish I saw this a the cinema instead of Bourne.
I personally think that Len Wiseman (Underworld) has truly arrived as a heavy hitter in the field of action film, and dear I say it, if there was a Die Hard 5 I would be in.
My biggest gripe is the bad guy Tim Oyphant. I felt that the bad guy should be…. Well look who we’ve had in the past Alan Rickman, Jeremy Irons, and William Sadler, the first two are in a league of their own, but the thing that gets to me was age. Ok I understand they are saying look McClane is older but he can still mix it up with the younger my-space generation, that’s cool. But I wanted a master mind on par with Willis brawn,(like crazy beats big, smart beat crazy, big beats smart.) It was like this little upstart knows his computers but he just didn’t intimidate, all the dead pan looks in the world couldn’t make him scary.
This is well worth a look if you don’t want to think about a film, pure pop-corn film-making at its best.
Action Film 8/10
Film 6/10
Rugby World Cup 2007
...I spent the duration of the movie thinking the bad Guy was that dude from Transformers and TV crap 'Las Vegas' Josh someone!
hahahahahahahahaha!!
Excellent review.
Dusk