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'Die Hard or Live Free' same as first 3 |
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Written by Robert W. Butler, McClatchy-Tribune
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Friday, 22 June 2007 |
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 ___
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD
2 ½ stars
Director: Len Wiseman
Cast: Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant
Rated: PG-13 for violence and language. Some dialogue in French with English subtitles.
Running time: 2:10
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There's something comforting about formula.
The three (now four) "Die Hard" films starring Bruce Willis are virtually the same movie, a blend of buddy flick and one-man-army action epic as New York City police Detective John McClane (Willis) overcomes insurmountable odds and astonishing physical abuse to thwart dastardly terrorists. Only the specifics are changed from movie to movie.
But you know what? It's still fun.
The best parts of "Live Free or Die Hard" are the action sequences. Director Len Wiseman ("Underworld"), inheriting the reins from veteran John McTiernan, mostly stages the movie's violence with imagination and style (although there may be one too many sequences of McClane dangling in an elevator shaft, from a freeway overpass or in several other situations in which the rest of us would just chuck it all and let go.)
Eschewing the slice-and-dice editing of so many young filmmakers, Wiseman lets his camera linger just long enough that we can actually tell what's going on. The explosions, gunshots and car stunts have real visceral impact.
Astonishingly, the film has escaped an R rating (evidently you can have human bodies blown all over the place as long as they don't bleed too much; also, McClane keeps his language well within PG-13 boundaries).
And within the gunfire and agreeably ludicrous stunts, this "Die Hard" has a genuine kernel of relevance. The premise is that cyber terrorists have hacked into the government's mainframes. They can control traffic lights and surveillance cameras, send stock prices plummeting with phony figures, shut down cell phone satellites, override police radio frequencies, access everybody's financial history, take over the TV and cable networks and shut down all utilities.
Welcome to the Stone Age.
Playing chief baddie is "Deadwood's" Timothy Olyphant, and while his portrayal fits snugly within "Die Hard's" tradition of smug/sinister/brainy bad guys, the character's back story is intriguing - he's a government whistleblower whose career in computer security was destroyed when he tried to draw attention to the gaping vulnerabilities of America's cyberstructure. Now he's getting even.
The film's biggest letdown is in the "buddy" element. McClane is teamed with a twentysomething hacker (Justin Long) who unwittingly wrote code for the terrorists and has barely escaped assassination. Now he and McClane are on the run from Eurotrash killers (they speak French, have tattoos and sport odd facial hair).
They become an effective team - the gritty cop provides the muscle and street smarts; the timorous keyboard jockey provides the computer know-how to strike back at the bad guys.
It's a promising setup, but screenwriter Mark Bomback shortchanges Long (he was the dorky Warren Cheswick on TV's "Ed") by not providing him with enough funny material. Long's colorless character means that Willis' McClane buries him.
Indeed, half the film's dialogue consists of Willis yelling stuff like "Hang on!" and "Stick close to me!"
Whatever. "Live Free or Die Hard" functions well as a thrill ride. There's still some "yippee-ki-yay" left in this franchise.
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