The Expendables 2 (2012) - Retrospective Review

Director: Simon West

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jean Claude Van Damme, Scott Adkins, Chuck Norris

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 103 min

The Expendables 2 is a fun but albeit flawed sequel to the equally flawed but noticeably more serious The Expendables. Stripped of the previous film's bleak tone and character driven nature, The Expendables is an all out action and cameo fest with little attention to character or common sense. The sequel does exactly what one expects from a sequel to such a franchise: amp up the stakes, deliver bigger set pieces, and introduce more action icons. However, the film's quality takes a hit due to such things. Even though the film's action scenes and stars are bigger and more plentiful, that doesn't necessarily mean that the sequel is a better film. 

With Stallone no longer at the helm of the director's chair, The Expendables 2 is a noticeably lighter affair that aims purely for action and nothing more. If the first film was made mostly for die hard action fans, than the sequel is made exclusively for action fans, as non-action fans and esteemed critics alike will find nothing to enjoy here. If Stallone, Statham, and Schwarzenegger aren't your buddies, than this is not the film for you. Action fans will be pleased to discover that the sequel features a stronger duo of villains and nearly triple the body count in exactly the same run time. 

The boys are back and ready to kick more ass.

The Expendables 2 opens with an insanely long and ridiculous action scene that trumps the finale of first film within minutes. One can immediately sense the difference between this film and its predecessor as characters crack jokes as they gun down nameless henchmen. After the Expendables survive said mission and head home, Barney is confronted by a very pissed Church (Bruce Willis) who is upset over the events of the first film. Church is frustrated that Barney and friends destroyed half of Vilena in the process of eliminating James Munroe. Therefore, Church tells Barney that he must retrieve a computer device from a downed plane in Albania or else he and the entire team are going to jail. Church also appoints an advisor, Maggie Chan (Yu Nan), to the team. After successfully retrieving the computer device, the mission goes from sour to worse when the mysterious Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme) murders one of the Expendables and steals the device. Barney's simple retrieval mission quickly turns into a full blown quest for revenge as the Expendables team up with several old and new faces to take down Vilain.

The cracks in the Expendables franchise appear within minutes of sequel's start as the jokes and cameos come quicker than ever before. It's clear that with Stallone no longer directing, the Expendables franchise has more or less turned into a pure action fest, plain and simple. The bleak tone and mournful nature of Stallone's somewhat mature original is completely absent in this picture. Viewers are instead treated to a ridiculous amount of self referential comedy and lame humor that will only get a kick out of the dads in the audience. Here are some lines from The Expendables 2 that make me cringe in my seat:

"Fine, but if I don't get this back, your ass is terminated!" - Crews to Schwarzenegger

"Now that's what I call Chinese takeout!" - Statham to Jet Li parachuting out of plane

"I could really go for some Chinese food." - Lundgren to Nan

"After five hours of excruciating pain, the cobra died." - Norris literally making a Chuck Norris joke

"I now pronounce you, man and knife." - Statham as he throws a knife into a guy

"You've been back enough, I'll be back." - Willis to Schwarzenegger

"Yippe Ki-Yay." - Schwarzenegger to Willis

"Who's next, Rambo?" - Schwarzenegger to Norris

These are truly some of the worst lines of dialog that I have ever heard in a feature film. The biggest problem with cracking jokes like these during action sequences is that it deflates all of the tension out of the film's otherwise violent and gory proceedings. In the original Expendables, Stallone and friends only cracked jokes during down time or when they were away from their missions. This made sense, as trained mercenaries are nothing more than human. In the sequel however, no moment or action scene is sacred. A character can crack a joke or laugh about killing someone at a moment's notice and ruin what was otherwise a fun and awesome action scene. It is for reasons like these that The Expendables 2 is a noticeably weaker film than the original.

The action Gods smile upon us by reuniting both Van Damme and Adkins!

However, The Expendables 2 makes up for its flaws in certain areas that ultimately makes the film as watchable as Stallone's original. The sequel introduces a plethora of new characters and action icons that puts the original film's cast completely to shame. However, the screen time for each character seems more unbalanced this time around than ever before. After all, only so much screen time can be given to the same characters from before, along with the new ones, within a 103 minute film.

Sylvester Stallone completely phones in his performance this time around with a lazy and emotionless turn as the once bleak and human Barney Ross. Stallone barely conveys an honest human emotion throughout the film. He seems fit to maintain the same mildly tense attitude throughout the entire film. It's clear that Stallone's heart was not in the sequel as much as it was in the original.

Besides Mickey Rourke, all of the surviving members of the original film return with worse material to work with than before. One odd element of the sequel is that Jet Li is downgraded from being a significant supporting player to that of a mere cameo. It's a damn shame too, as Li is one of the few members of the franchise who can actually carry an action scene on his own. The Expendables 2 also introduces the first female ass kicker of the franchise, played by Yu Nan. Nan is given very little to do throughout the film and barely leaves an impression. Newcomer Liam Hemsworth, formerly Miley Cyrus' fiance, gives a surprisingly great performance as the teams' newest member. It's a shame that his character is killed off so soon, as Billy the Kid showcases more humanity and likability than any other Expendable in the entire sequel. Therefore, the sequel introduces very few new members to the core Expendables team.

"I now pronounce you, man and knife."

However, the sequel does step up both its cameo and villain game even more than the original film. Chuck Norris (Invasion U.S.A.) of all action stars makes a cameo appearance during the middle and end of the film as a lone mercenary who joins in on the action because...why not? His cameo is pretty ridiculous, but at least it gives Norris one last chance to up his total career kill count if anything else. Both Arnold and Bruce get in on the action this time around too. After merely standing still in the original film and cracking awful jokes, the two get to mow down bad guys this time while also cracking awful jokes. Upgraded from merely cameos, the two sort of become honorary members of the Expendables team. I am particularly embarrassed to admit it, but I kind of love the smart car bit where the two cram into a car and drive around shooting bad guys. It's incredibly silly but also bad ass at the same time. I especially love the shots of Arnie and Bruce leaning out of the car to pick up more guns to fire. However, The Expendables 2 drops the mic when it comes to its villain duo played by none other than Jean-Claude Van Damme (Hard Target) and Scott Adkins (Ninja, El Gringo). 

Van Damme and Adkins had already appeared in action films such as The Shepherd: Border Patrol, The Assassination Games, and Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning together. Adkins is more or less the new Jean-Claude Van Damme too. Therefore, their pairing in The Expendables 2 was a stroke of genius. Van Damme plays a villain literally named 'Vilain." You can't get more silly and on the nose than that. Van Damme steals the show and gives one of the best performances of his career as a psychotic and sadistic criminal who takes pleasure in killing people and admires the symbol of the goat. Adkins plays Van Damme's right hand man and makes for a nice foil to Statham's Lee Christmas. The two have an especially intense moment early on in the film where Statham disrepects Adkins, only to be forced to respect him back right afterwords. Van Damme and Adkins, two of my favorite action stars working today, are the main reason that I find myself returning to The Expendables 2 every now and than, not Stallone and Statham. 

And yet, for all of The Expendables 2 silliness, there is still an underlying story about redemption amongst its revenge plot. Barney sees Billy the Kid as himself, only younger and smarter. Billy admits early on in the film that the Expendables life is not for him, and that he is going to leave the team in order to be with his girlfriend. Barney admires this because he wish he had done the same early on in his life instead of wasting the years away killing people. Therefore, when Vilain kills Billy, Barney feels responsible and saddened because Billy had a chance to live a good life. Barney's quest to avenge Billy's death is more than just simple revenge, but a personal journey about redemption for himself and Billy's lost life.

Willis and Arnie get in on the fun.

From an action stand point, The Expendables 2 is pretty solid. The film is jam packed with more action than even the first film. In fact, the final hour of the film is more or less one action scene after another until the credits roll. Unfortunately, the sequel lacks the small scale and personal nature of the first film. The sequel's massive set pieces lack a considerable amount of direction or purpose and tend to come off as montages of violence at points. The final air port battle, while entertaining and jam packed with as much fan service as possible, is honestly a mess of an action scene. Characters simply pop up out of nowhere and gun down nameless henchmen even though they rarely take cover and leave themselves open to gun fire. What kind of trained mercenary would make such an error?

The sequel also opens with an insane action scene where every character must kill 10 to 100 people each. Statham alone kills more people here than most other actors get too in their entire careers. The film's action tends to be at its strongest when the attention is shifted towards a small scaled fight that takes place during a larger battle. For example, Jet Li's fight against a number of guards in a kitchen during the opening mission is infinitely more satisfying and awesome than the entire mission itself. The same can also be said for Statham's fight against the Sangs inside of a church while the rest of the Expendables gun down the various intruders in a village. Small scaled fights like steal the show every time.

One of my problems with the first Expendables is that the film didn't feature any great one on one fights. Nobody wanted to see Dolph go up against Jet Li or Stallone go up against Steve Austin. These fights are fine, but they in no way take advantage of the previous history or skills attached to said fighters. Dolph is too tall to fight a skilled martial artists like Jet Li and Stallone is the last person who should be taking on a professional wrestler. This is why I think that the three way fight between Jet Li, Statham, and Gary Daniels is the best fight in the original film because all three of those actors are middle aged martial arts centric actors who should be fighting one another. Fortunately, The Expendables 2 gets this aspect right and features two awesome fights that pit four separate icons of action against one another.

The first notable fight that takes place during the finale pits Statham against Adkins. Both Statham and Adkins are young action stars who perform martial arts in many of their films. Therefore, it makes sense for the two to duke it out at the end of the sequel. While it is unfortunate that their fight is exceptionally short, I'll take a short fight between the two any day over no fight. The Expendables 2 also pits two of action cinema's greatest titans, Stallone and Van Damme, against one another in the final fight of the film. Both Stallone and Van Damme are particularly elder actors who have been working in the genre for several decades now. Therefore, the two more or less brawl it out with one another and resort to lots of gut punches and takedowns in a fight that benefits from some excellent build up. This is exactly what the first Expendables film was lacking, a significant and long awaited one on one fight between two of action cinema's greatest titans. Fortunately, The Expendables 2 understands this and delivers.

"Do you wanna fight me like a man or like a sheep?"

Simon West's sequel to Stallone's ode to action packs in more action and cameos than previously thought imaginable. The face offs are better, the body count is higher, and the villains are even more memorable. Even Brian Tyler's excellent score from the first film is back too. Unfortunately, the film falls hard in other areas of the picture, thereby making The Expendables 2 a weaker but still satisfying sequel. The horrendous digital effects are back and even worse this time. Computerized helicopters have never looked so terrible. The sequel also features an added helping of comedy, but at the expense of the film's tension. 

The Expendables 2 aims purely for action and comedy, but nothing more than that. If the sequel had kept its focus on the characters and scaled down the action, than its testosterone infused proceedings might have been more enjoyable and gripping. How many times are viewers expected to join these guys on these adventures if no attention is given to the characters and no filmmaker takes the material seriously? Let that be a warning to all future filmmakers of this franchise. Otherwise, The Expendables 2 is a flawed but highly enjoyable sequel that all action fans have probably already seen two or three times already.

Rating: 6/10 - A noticeably weaker albeit more fun and action packed sequel to the most testosterone infused franchise around.

Franchise:

The Expendables (dir. Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

The Expendables 2 (dir. Simon West, 2012)

The Expendables 3 (dir. Patrick Hughes, 2014)

Die-Hard-a-Thon, Part 5 - A Good Day to Die Hard: Theatrical Cut (2013)

Director: John Moore

Cast: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch, Yuliya Snigir, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 97 minutes

A Good Day to Die Hard sounds like a good idea on paper. The film would take place in Russia, return the franchise to its gritty R rated roots, and introduce John's son as a gun toting side kick. All of those things sound like good ideas to me! Even the badly photoshopped poster hints at a dark and violent entry in the series. Maybe A Good Day to Die Hard might save the franchise after the hokey and popcorn-y Live Free or Die Hard...

Nope. Not at all. A Good Day to Die Hard is a lousy piece of trash. It might be the most disappointing and confounding action film I have ever seen since I started reviewing action films for this blog. Don't let the star power or production quality fool you! This film's plot, dialog, and performances are as bad as what you would find in a crappy direct to video action film! Read on to feel my pain for a franchise that was once so great...

Like father, like son.

This movie makes Die Hard 2: Die Harder seem like an action masterpiece! And that is saying something for a film as dumb and silly as that.

The film opens with John receiving word that his son Jack (Jai Courtney) is currently in Russia. So he packs up and flies off to Moscow in order to find him. His son is currently working for the CIA and is trying to get a hold of a political prisoner named Yuri (Sebastian Koch) who has a file with evidence against corrupt politician Viktor Chagrain (Sergei Kolesnikov). John simply finds his son in the middle of a car chase and is immediately wrapped up into the action packed plot. Jack and John must now protect Yuri and get ahold of the file to take down Viktor. They must also avoid Viktor's gun men led by Alik (Radivoje Bukvic).

Don't get used to that basic plot though. There are two completely ridiculous twists in this film that make the entire plot make absolutely no sense! After having watched the entire film, I still cannot make sense of anything. Is it really that hard to come up with a basic plot for a Die Hard film?

The guy on the left looks like Dolph Lundgren in Red Scorpion.

Bruce Willis is at his absolute worst in this film. He barely attempts to be funny or react in a realistic manner to the situations surround him. I don't know what happened to John McClane but he doesn't care about people anymore. During the epic car chase at the beginning of the film, John witnesses numerous car crashes. Instead of being concerned or scared for the hurt people he just laughs it off. "Excuse me! Sorry! Out of my way," he says. He even drives his car over other people's cars at one point and does not give a second thought about if he is hurting them at all or not.

What happened to the John McClane I used to know and love? John used to be all about the people and protecting the innocent at all costs. In Die Hard, John freaks out when he lets a hostage get shot in the face. He tells himself, "Why didn't you do something John?! Why did you let them shoot him? Cause if you stopped them you'd be dead too!" John feels horrible about his decision but knows he'd be dead if he took on so many terrorists at once. In Die Hard 2, John tries to stop a plane from landing so low to the ground by waving firey sticks to alert them. Unfortunately, the plane crash lands and explodes killing everyone on the plane. John drops to the ground and cries his eyes out. All John wanted to do was to protect those poor people and he failed. In Die Hard With a Vengeance, John jumps on top of a subway train in order to find the bomb on it. When he throws the bomb out of the back of the train, it detonates and bounces the cart he is in off of the tracks. He could have died getting rid of that bomb but did it anyway in order to protect the people of New York City. 

In this film, John just drives over people's cars crushing them, punches people in the face to steal their car, and treats death like it is nothing. All John cares about in this film is getting his son back and stopping the big plot at hand. What happened to the guy who used to be so relatable and funny? John McClane has been reduced to a machine gun wielding robot. It is also worth mentioning that McClane doesn't receive a scratch on him until he jumps out of a building in the middle of the film. It's another sign that the once relatable under dog is now a nearly invincible killing machine.

Video game screen shot? Nope, it's Die Hard 5.

I don't understand why but John continually screams, "I'm on vacation!" throughout the film. Why does John keep saying this? The opening scene of the film establishes that John is looking for his son. Therefore, he goes to Moscow to look for his son. The movie establishes that John is not in Moscow for a vacation! He is there to find his son and than go home. So why does John continually scream, "I'm on vacation!" Somebody please help me because I don't understand this at all.

If any one actor brought their game to this film it would probably be Jai Courtney as Jack McClane (a.k.a. Die Hard Junior). He seems to the be the only actor who is really trying to make something out of the filth he has to work with. For the first time in the Die Hard series, John's side kick actually gets in on the killing game with him. I would have much preferred an action film where Jai Courtney fights terrorists in Russia and works for the CIA. Just leave out the whole Die Hard connection. Courtney is a promising up and coming action star who wowed me with his villainous performance in Jack Reacher and is filling some big shoes as the new John Connor in Terminator: Genesis. I think Courtney looks the part of an action star very well and I hope for the best with his career. He was a shining star in this dull dull film.

It pains me to say this but this film contains the worst villains of the entire series and maybe the worst of any action film I have ever seen. It's hard to explain but there are like four villains in this movie! The film keeps switching who is the primary villain and it makes for a nauseating experience. Just pick a villain and go with that! Don't provide twists that change up the status quo. These twists make everything that came before non-sensical and confusing. Alik is the worst villain of the bunch. He dances around in some scenes and chews on a carrot as he desperately tries to make his character memorable and fun. The other two or three villains also suck. You have to be a total idiot not to see that one of the "good guys" in the film is "surprisingly" a villain! 

Holy crap!

A Good Day to Die Hard was made for one reason: its action scenes. Director John Moore is alot like Len Wiseman in that he only knows how to create action scenes and nothing else. Even though I hate this film, the gritty action scenes are a huge step up from the PG-13 and CG heavy set pieces of Live Free or Die Hard.

There is an insane car chase at the beginning of the film that must go on for nearly 10 minutes! It also helps that there is not a lick of CG in the entire scene. All of the vehicular mayhem is done with real cars and practical stunts. I loved this car chase. There are some really impressive vehicular stunts in this scene. The most impressive of the bunch is when John rams his car into the side of Alik's armored vehicle and sends the vehicle flying off of the freeway. The armored vehicle flies diagonally through the air and crashes into a chunk of concrete on the back of an 18 wheeler! I'm sorry, but all of these stunts just blew my mind.

There are also two short but sweet shootouts after this chase scene. Jack and John even jump out of two buildings in two separate scenes and fall hundreds of feet and completely survive. John is like Rambo for goodness sakes. He places himself in ridiculous situations and miraculously survives even though he is the "normal everyday kind of guy."

I also enjoyed the throwback to the 1980's when Russians were the villains (Rambo III, Red Scorpion). The villains even pilot a massive Russian helicopter and shoot at John and Jack in two of the film's action scenes. I'm trying to find some sort of merit in this horrible film. 

John Rambo? Oh, I'm sorry it's just John McClane.

I enjoyed that the film tried to expand the series' mythology by introducing John's son and including Lucy McClane from the previous film. However, the father and son subplot does not work at all. None of their conversations or dialog feel natural at all. It makes for a very painful viewing experience. The only thing the two seem to bond over is being good at killing other people.

I have continually stated that the original three Die Hard films can be shown to any one who does not like action movies. The films contain tense situations and a very likeable Bruce Willis that non-action fans will eat up and enjoy. However, A Good Day to Die Hard has no value to it besides its action sequences. Therefore, the only people who will find something remotely salvageable are people like me, die hard action fans.

It also makes me real sad to see the Moscow setting completely put to waste. James Mangold's The Wolverine was an excellent big budget blockbuster also released in 2013. The film benefits from placing its protagonist in a completely foreign environment. In doing so, all of the film's action scenes, aesthetics, and themes pull from that specific setting. It makes for a refreshing franchise installment because we have never seen the protagonist in such a foreign environment before surrounded by so many foreign things. A Good Day to Die Hard does nothing to make John's trip to Moscow even remotely unique. Wouldn't it be more interesting to see John running around asking for help and not being able to speak to the people because he doesn't speak Russian? It just felt like John was in a city that looked different but operated like everywhere else he has been.

My final gripe about this film is that it is only 97 minutes long. Every Die Hard film is always just over 2 hours long. These films are long because they have a lot of tense scenes and lots of double and triple crosses to present over the plot. Therefore, you really feel like you went an adrenaline packed ride that took your breath away. Two hours of action, comedy, and suspense make for a fantastic experience. However, 97 minutes of just action is a forgettable experience. At the least the viewing experience flies by instead of dragging on and boring you out of your mind for more than 2 hours like another 2013 blockbuster, Man of Steel. It's also worth noting that Man of Steel and A Good Day to Die Hard depict characters who used to save innocent people for a living no longer directly saving innocent people. These classic characters are taking steps backwards as time goes on. How does that make sense?

The most interesting aspect of this film is that the guy on the right looks like Orson Welles.

A Good Day to Die Hard is a truly dreadful experience. I am a huge action fan and even I hated this film. I can't imagine the pain that top critics who write for Time magazine and the Chicago Tribune had to endure while watching this film. The funny thing is that I considered selling my copy of this film after watching it. However, I am going to keep it just so I can have the excellent action scenes in glorious Blu Ray HD. I did the same thing with another John Moore film I own, Max Payne. Huh, I think that says something about Moore's filmography.

A sixth and final Die Hard has been planned. I hope for the best because the last two entries are pretty awful. Unlike the consistently excellent Rambo series, the Die Hard series is all over the place in terms of its entertainment value. I don't know how many action franchises reach both the absolute highest of highs (Die Hard, 1988) and the lowest of lows (A Good Day to Die Hard, 2013). This fifth entry is just bad. The only, and I mean only redeemable thing in the entire film are its action scenes and Jai Courtney. Skip this movie please.

Rating: 4/10 - Dreadful filth that does not deserve to be called a Die Hard film. Good action scenes can't even save this turd.

Franchise: Die Hard 

Die Hard (dir. John McTiernan, 1988)

Die Hard 2: Die Harder (dir. Renny Harlin, 1990)

Die Hard With a Vengeance (dir. John McTiernan, 1995)

Live Free or Die Hard (dir. Len Wiseman, 2007)

A Good Day to Die Hard (dir. John Moore, 2013)

Die-Hard-a-Thon, Part 4 - Live Free or Die Hard: Unrated (2007)

Director: Len Wiseman

Cast: Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant, Kevin Smith, Maggie Q, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Country: United States

Rating: Unrated (originally PG-13)

Run Time: 129 minutes

Live Free or Die Hard came a whopping 12 years after Die Hard With a Vengeance. In the last decade, it seems to have become a new filmmaking trend to revive classic franchises for a new contemporary audience. Star Wars, Rambo, and even Tron all came back after 20 plus year breaks. And while it's obvious that these revivals are done purely to make more money off of the franchise name, there is always an opportunity to craft some good art and entertainment too.

Unfortunately, Live Free or Die Hard is a perfect example of solely cashing in on the franchise name. Not only does the film barely resemble a Die Hard film, but everything else is completely geared towards the contemporary audience of 2007. Gone is the bloody violence, gone is the foul language, gone is the memorable villains, gone is the hilarious Bruce Willis, and gone is the gritty fight sequences. Make way for a high tech plot, lots of CGI, and PG-13 violence. Don't get me wrong, Live Free or Die Hard is fun and generic blockbuster entertainment. It's just that this is not a TRUE Die Hard film. What could have been a memorable and exciting revival of the action franchise that has come to define action movies turned out to be no more than an average action film that had the word "Die Hard" slapped on to it.

12 years later means no more hair and no more talent.

Summer of 2007 was a time that I remember quite well. I was in high school and I was just starting to go see movies with my friends more often and not as much with my dad or grandpa. However, I did see Live Free or Die Hard in the theater with my dad and I remember thinking that it was pretty awesome. This was all before I had even seen Die Hard 1, cared about the difference between PG-13 and R, and thought movies like Disturbia and Transformers were the best movies of the year. I remember watching the theatrical cut on DVD at a friend's house a few months later and having a lot of fun revisiting it. This film really does play perfectly to the mindset of a young high schooler. You think the action scenes are all awesome, the jokes are hilarious, and that the image of a car flying into a helicopter is the coolest thing ever.

But than you grow up, graduate from high school, watch a thousand more action movies, and realize that Live Free or Die Hard is just an average piece of studio blockbuster filmmaking. There was a lot of hype for this movie. Much like the original Stars Wars films, the original three Die Hard films held a special place in action fans' hearts. But than much like the Star Wars prequels, Live Free or Die Hard came out and disappointed a lot of the Die Hard fans. Where's the blood? Where's the cursing? Where's the John McClane I know and love? It turns out that this was around the time when the PG-13 rating was coming in to assert its dominance over the box office and take its place atop the money making throne. Sure, studios could make an R rated action film and make money. But the studios could also make a PG-13 action film and make even more money!

For my viewing of the film, I chose to watch the Unrated cut that many people have recommended. The Unrated cut of the film digitally restores all blood and adds all of the cursing back in as well. It's clear that Len Wiseman shot the film with both ratings in mind. So we can at least thank Len for that. And while I think that the added blood and language helps boost the film from a 5/10 to a 6/10, it can't make up for the other flaws of this film. The film still feels like a generic studio blockbuster even with the R rating. I don't want to write an entire article on just the rating of the film so we have to move on at some point. For those who want to hear more about the PG-13 rating, check out Vern's discussion of Live Free or Die Hard on his site. He goes ballistic!

This image is the reason Len Wiseman made Die Hard 4.

Live Free or Die Hard finds John McClane once again in the wrong place at the wrong time (one of the only elements of the film that really makes it a Die Hard film). A group of cyber terrorists enlist hackers to create a software for them to take over all of the electronic communications on the East Coast. In order to eliminate loose ends, the terrorists send explosive viruses to the hackers' computers and kill all of them but one. That one, Matthew Farrell (Justin Long), is about to delete the virus thereby activating the explosive. However, Farrell is interrupted when John McClane shows up at his door. McClane's commanding officer ordered him to check on Farrell because he may be a suspect in the recent hacking of the FBI.

Due to this delay, the cyber terrorists send in their gunmen and immediately attack John and Matthew. John is immediately wrapped up into the thick of things as he has to defend Matthew and stop the cyber terrorists from shutting down all of the electronics across the East Coast.

One of my biggest issues with this film is that John McClane is completely in service of the villain's plot. Almost every scene in the film relates to the villain's plot in one way or another. In the first three Die Hard films, we really get to know John McClane and get a lot of scenes that allow us to check up on John's life. This film has only one of those scenes (John beats up his daughter's boyfriend at the beginning of the film). And after that it's straight to the plot. What I mean is that we get no time to get reacquainted with "John the human". All we get is "John the unstoppable action hero". This film is all about the cyber terrorists and their evil plot and hardly about John having to deal with yet another bad day in his life.

Timothy Olyphant is no Hans Gruber or even Simon Gruber.

John McClane simply doesn't feel human any more in this film. McClane went the way of Paul Kersey from the Death Wish films. He started off as a vulnerable and relatable action hero who somehow became an unstoppable action hero. McClane has come a long way from killing his first terrorist in Die Hard to literally taking on a jet with a semi-truck in Live Free or Die Hard. McClane is also pretty humorless. None of his attempts at humor felt natural at all. It's a shame that McClane's trademark humor is so absent in this film because it makes his character less special from other unique action heroes.

Another one of my issues with this film is that I am not a fan of any of these new characters. John feels like an alien to me, I've already covered that. So how about his sidekick? Well, the filmmakers must have never seen a Die Hard film because John hardly ever makes an attempt at being funny. All of the comedic relief has been given to his sidekick, Justin Long. He plays his awkward self and stammers and acts nerdy. But that is just about where all of the comedy comes from. Remember how awesome Sergeant Al Powell was in Die Hard and how memorable Zeus was in Die Hard With a Vengeance? Farrell is like a fart in the wind compared to those guys. I think Long was put into the film because he was all the rage in the mid 2000s with his Mac commercials and the comedies Accepted and Waiting.

I did enjoy Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lucy McClane though, John's daughter. Her presence helped build the mythology of the series just a tiny bit. It was also nice to see one of John's family members in peril again (only in the final 30 minutes though). The first two films were all about family peril so at least Len Wiseman remembered that aspect of the Die Hard series. I still would have liked some clarity as to what tore John and his wife apart in between Die Hard 2: Die Harder and Die Hard With a Vengeance, but I shouldn't hope for that in this Die Hard.

"Okay, I'll say it! I'm a mac!"

The villains in this film are pretty forgetful. Timothy Olyphant is the lead villain and his right hand woman is played by Maggie Q. I won't bother to give you their character names because if I can't remember them after watching the film than their names aren't worth mentioning. Hans Gruber and Simon Gruber? Villain names I'll remember forever. These? Psh, who cares? Kevin Smith also pops up as himself and adds nothing to the movie. I'm moving on to something else because I'm becoming exhausted talking about the characters in this movie.

It's now time to talk about the creme de la creme of this blog. The machismo, the explosions, the shootouts, the fist fights...the action.

Live Free or Die Hard relies too much on creating visually interesting set pieces instead of truly tense and exciting action scenes. For example, Die Hard With a Vengeance builds up a lot of suspense when John has to deactivate a bomb while on a subway train. If his friend Zeus doesn't pick up a telephone too, the main villain will blow up the train. However, a cop has his gun aimed at Zeus and is preventing him from picking up the phone. Even though we know an action packed explosion of some sort is coming, the wait up to it is unbearable.

Live Free or Die Hard just doesn't know how to create scenes like that. All it knows how to do is create action scenes that look impressive but fail to engage the audience the way that the previous Die Hard films did. I want to remind the reader that I normally wouldn't attack any action scene in any movie like this. However, the Die Hard series is an excellent example of exciting action films with suspenseful scenes that even Alfred Hitchcock would be proud of. They aren't just trying to entertain the action crowd. They want to be a great action packed experience that you will never forget. To see this once great series turn into generic mindless blockbuster fare is just sad and disappointing.

You thought this was a video game screenshot? No, it's Die Hard 4.

I have to say, there are some truly terrible CGI scenes in this film. The CG on the collapsing freeway at the end of the film is laughably bad. The film also fails to capture true to life physics when it comes to its CG effects. During the lights out in the tunnel sequence, John and Matt run towards a pillar. As they leap behind it, a CG truck slides towards them and nails the pillar in the most awkward and unrealistic way possible. It's hard to describe this but check it out for yourself.

I did like some of the action in this film though. Thanks to the improvements with the unrated cut, all of the blood has been reinserted. I loved the first action scene in Matt Farrell's apartment. It's an old fashioned shoot 'em up bolstered by good sound design and lots of apartment destruction. I also enjoyed the parkour presence of Cyril Raffaelli (District B13, The Transporter, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Kiss of the Dragon) as one of Timothy Olyphant's main henchmen. He performs a lot of impressive stunts by jumping and sliding over fences and air ducts. Parkour was all the rage at the time (also seen in 2006's Casino Royale opening action scene).

My favorite action scene in the whole movie is the most basic and simple of them all. John and Matt are walking up a staircase in a large building and are trying to avoid various henchmen. When John turns around to talk to Matt, a henchman comes through the door in front of them. John and the henchman raise their handguns and cross their arms firing past one another's heads. They continue to duke it out until John gets the upper hand, blasts the man's foot, and than riddles his chest with bullets. It's the most old fashioned action scene of the film and it didn't require any CG at all. It just goes to show that sometimes a simple fist fight is more thrilling than a CG harriet jet firing at a CG truck as CG concrete falls all over the place.

Len Wiseman just doesn't know how to craft a good gritty action film. He is mostly known for directing Kate Beckinsale, being married to Kate Beckinsale, and making effects-heavy PG-13 actioners like Underworld, Underworld: Evolution, and Total Recall. He's the last person I want handling the gritty Die Hard franchise because he's more about plot and special effects than characters and suspense.

For those who were curious, this is that scene. Best shot in the film.

Live Free or Die Hard is one hell of a weak follow up to Die Hard With a Vengeance (one of the best action films I have ever seen). McClane doesn't feel the same, the villains are blander than ever, the humor is serviceable at best, and the action lacks the original's kick. To summarize my opinion in short: Die Hard 4 works as a fun blockbuster but not as a Die Hard film. You may think I hate this film because I spent about 90% of the review complaining about it. But alas, you don't know bad until you have seen the fifth film in the series...A Good Day to Die Hard In Russia With No Discernable Plot or Effort!

Rating: 6/10 - I am going to recommend the unrated cut of this film only to die hard action fans. I normally would give a film like this a 4 or a 5. However, the unrated cut helps salvage some of the damage. People who crave action scenes will get a kick out of some of things in this film. Unlike the first three films, non-actions won't find much to like here.

Franchise: Die Hard 

Die Hard (dir. John McTiernan, 1988)

Die Hard 2: Die Harder (dir. Renny Harlin, 1990)

Die Hard With a Vengeance (dir. John McTiernan, 1995)

Live Free or Die Hard (dir. Len Wiseman, 2007)

A Good Day to Die Hard (dir. John Moore, 2013)

Die-Hard-a-Thon, Part 3 - Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995)

Director: John McTiernan

Cast: Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L. Jackson, Graham Green, Colleen Camp, Sam Philips

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 131 minutes

Die Hard 2: Die Harder gave me quite the scare. How could the Die Hard franchise go downhill after just one film? After watching Die Hard With a Vengeance, all of my fears drifted away. Not only is this film an excellent sequel, but it is also one of the best action films I have ever watched. John McTiernan returns with a vengeance (see what I did there) and delivers an excellent and gritty action blockbuster that all contemporary sequels should strive to be like. Read on to see how much ass John McClane kicks in this bloody as heck actioner.

He may be divorced but he still wears that wedding ring.

It seems that John McTiernan is the savior and auteur of the Die Hard franchise. Both of his entries are absolutely excellent action films packed with R rated violence and lots of funny natural humor. They are both consistently entertaining and surprising in almost every scene. How much did I love With a Vengeance do you ask? Well, I ended up buying an original theatrical poster for the film on eBay. That's how much.

Die Hard With a Vengeance finds John McClane in a much darker place than where we left him back in 1990. When we last saw John, he was riding off into the snowy night with his lovely wife and kissing her passionately. From the look of things, Holly and John McClane looked like a happy couple. However, something happened in between Die Hard 2 and Die Hard With a Vengeance because Holly and John are no longer together. The film doesn't really give any reason why except that the two probably fought over something or whatever. Since John is clearly struggling with alcohol at the beginning of the film, I believe that his alcoholism must have drove her away.

The film starts with a literal bang as a bomb goes off in the streets of New York City. The police immediately receive a call from a man referring to himself as Simon (Jeremy Irons). Simon says that he plans on setting off another bomb unless John McClane will play a game with him. The force drags McClane out of police suspension and give him back his badge and gun. After completing his first task (McClane must wear a sign that says "I Hate N*****" in Harlem), McClane is saved from near death  by Zeus (Samuel L. Jackson). Since Zeus saved McClane during his first task, Simon demands that Zeus tag along with McClane for the rest of the day. It's an intense game of cat and mouse for the rest of the film as McClane and Zeus have to stop Simon from setting off more bombs in New York and ultimately catch the bastard.

The two have an "Unbreakable" friendship.

Die Hard With a Vengeance is an important entry because it takes the series in a whole new direction. Die Hard and Die Hard 2 are essentially the same film: John must stop some terrorists from taking over a limited location or else his wife will die. However, John is no longer with his wife in this film. In fact, she isn't even in the film. Instead, Die Hard With a Vengeance plops an alcoholic John right into his job and makes him race all over New York City in order to stop a terrorist. The plot of the film covers all of New York City instead of just a single building or an airport. This choice to broaden the events of the film to a massive scale seems to be the new franchise tradition. The next two sequels, Live Free or Die Hard and A Good Day to Die Hard, deal with terrorist plots that cover all of Washington, D.C. and Moscow. John McClane has come a long way since having to deal with just a simple building.

I love that we finally got to see John, a member of the N.Y.P.D., actually be a cop in New York City. The locations and settings seen throughout the film are absolutely incredible. The film provides an incredible sense of what it is like to simply be in New York City. It's kind of like John Mcclane is taking us on a nice tour of New York: he drives a taxi cab through central park, he climbs on top of a subway train, he drives a truck through a flooded water tunnel, he kills some terrorists inside of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and swings off of a bridge. The end of the car chase through Central Park blows my mind. John jumps a rock and lands right into busy New York traffic. The scene is made more impressive because there is no green screen or CGI. A stuntman is actually jumping a car out of Central Park and right into traffic!

John McTiernan's return to the franchise brings Die Hard back to its gritty and familiar roots. The first thing back is John's classic wife beater tank top. There's just something about John and that tank top that screams Die Hard. The second returning element is that the film is essentially a big adrenaline ride from start to finish with little to no down time at any point. The film has you in its grips from the moment it starts and never lets up. The film is also similar to Die Hard in that it has a serious plot devoid of forced humor. All the humor in the film is completely natural and develops from the situations and characters. The film also partners John back up with a black man that he becomes good friends with over the course of the film.

"Be pre-pareeeeeeeeeeeed!"

Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson have incredible chemistry in this film. The two of them curse their way through this entire film and made me laugh the whole way through. These two guys were born to cuss! I really loved watching John get partnered up with a smart guy like Zeus. Whenever the two have to solve a riddle that Simon presents to them, only Zeus knows how to handle them. Without Zeus, John would not have likely made it through the day.

Another thing I loved about Die Hard With a Vengeance was the film's fantastic sense of community and teamwork. Everybody on the good guy side all work together. It's so nice to see people on John McClane's side for once after seeing the L.A.P.D., the FBI, and airport security be against him in Die Hard and Die Hard 2. Literally everybody helps out John throughout the film: police men, the bomb squad, and even truck drivers. It felt nice to see every citizen of New York City band together in order to stop a terrorist's plot.

And how about that terrorist? I think that Simon is a pretty solid villain. Jeremy Irons is a welcome addition to the franchise. It seems that Oscar caliber actors make for the best Die Hard villains. It's a bit of a spoiler, but I loved that Simon ended up being Hans Gruber's brother. The film really twisted this on its head when Simon reveals that he didn't even care for his brother at all. Simon had no intentions of simply targeting John. He used John as a scapegoat to distract everyone from his real goal: to steal a bunch of gold! All Simon cared about was just a nice score of cash and gold. Just like his brother. I also couldn't stop thinking about The Lion King (1994) and Scar whenever I heard Irons' voice over the many radio conversations in the film.

Holy crap!

Die Hard With a Vengeance has some incredible stunt work and action scenes to boot. I love all of the action in Die Hard 2, I really do. But the action scenes in this installment are so dang bloody and so freakin' exciting, Die Hard and Die Hard 2 just can't stack up to them.

One of the action scenes in the film is easily my favorite scene of the entire franchise. After some of Simon's men take over the Federal Reserve, John walks in covered in blood and asks if he could use the elevator. Four disguised terrorists happily oblige John and walk onto the elevator with him. As the elevator starts to go down, John looks over and sees that one of the terrorists has the badge number of one of his fellow cops. His co-worker would always play his badge number for the lotto and one of the terrorists killed the co-worker early on in the film and took his badge.

Instead of flipping out, John stares ahead at the elevator door and goes, "Did anyone play the lottery?" John goes off on a tangent about how his wife always gets him lottery tickets when he doesn't need them and it makes for a really funny scene. He concludes by saying, "You got your ticket? Here I got mine right here," and than puts his hand inside of his jacket. He fires his gun through his jacket into two of the terrorists and than shoves his gun into the neck of another terrorist. The fourth terrorist shoots at John but misses him and blasts the third terrorist. John flips the fourth terrorist over and shoots him in the head point blank. The film than cuts to a close up of John's face as blood splatters all over him! 

This is THE best scene in the whole series because it shows how hilarious and awesome John McClane is all in one scene. The scene is also wonderfully shot, edited, and set up so that the pay off is much more memorable. Bruce Willis is simply at his most lovable in this film and I couldn't get enough of him.

"English mother! Do you speak it?!"

There is also a great car chase where John is shot at by some of Simon's henchmen on a highway. John asks Zeus to rip out the car's brake wires underneath the steering wheel. John than pulls the emergency brake and whips the car around 180 degrees. As his car slides past the enemy car, Bruce fires his trusty hand gun and blasts the henchies to death. I love it!

Believe it or not, there is a reason why I cannot award this film a perfect 10 out of 10 rating. Die Hard lands a 10 out of 10 rating because it ends everything with a perfectly satisfying conclusion. Die Hard With a Vengeance's finale left me feeling quite disappointed. I don't want to spoil things, but the film seemed to end the main plot even though there was 15 minutes left to go. I know an alternate ending was filmed and I think that ending is also flawed. It seems like the filmmakers just couldn't figure out a good ending because both endings don't work for me. It makes one wonder, does the villain have to be defeated and killed at the end of every movie or can he escape every once in awhile?

It also seems to be the franchise tradition from Die Hard 2 - 4 to say, "Yippie Ki Yae Mother F*****" right before or after John kills the main villain. Just noticed it and thought it was worth mentioning. I also noticed John almost always has a partner in all of the films (except for Die Hard 2). For my money, Zeus is the funniest and most memorable of all of John McClane's partners and I would take him over Justin Long any day.

Guy just can't catch a break.

Watching Die Hard With a Vengeance was a bittersweet experience. I had never experienced this film before and had a real blast watching it. However, this is where the Die Hard franchise splits in two. The first three films represent Bruce Willis and R rated action at the top of their game. They are highly recommended (even Die Hard 2) to all action fans. The fourth and fifth installments however represent today's mediocre filmmaking with their weak characters, shaky camera work, lousy CGI, and forgettable attempts at humor. It pains me to know that I have to trudge through two more Die Hard films that will never be as good as the original three. Oh well.

To keep it short, Die Hard With a Vengeance kicks butt and blows your mind at the same time. It's an incredible thrill ride that had me laughing and gasping the whole way through. John McTiernan's return to the franchise helped out in a major way and I hope he returns again another day. I highly recommend this film to all action fans and consider it to be one of the best action films ever made. Tune in next time for the...PG-13 Live Free or Die Hard...PG-13? Is that a joke?

Rating: 9/10 - Watch it! A superb 90's blockbuster packed with blood, car chases, and explosions. Great character work all around as well.

Franchise: Die Hard 

Die Hard (dir. John McTiernan, 1988)

Die Hard 2: Die Harder (dir. Renny Harlin, 1990)

Die Hard With a Vengeance (dir. John McTiernan, 1995)

Live Free or Die Hard (dir. Len Wiseman, 2007)

A Good Day to Die Hard (dir. John Moore, 2013)

Die-Hard-a-Thon, Part 2 - Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990)

Director: Renny Harlin

Cast: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Atherton, Franco Nero, William Sadler, Art Evans 

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 124 minutes

One of my fellow critics, Brennan Klein of Popcorn Culture, recently reviewed A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and loved it. I'm stoked for Brennan that the film's director was able to jump into the middle of a franchise and deliver an excellent and solid entry. That director's name was Renny Harlin and his Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master was released the same year that John McTiernan's Die Hard premiered. Who would have guessed that Renny Harlin would find himself in the director's chair of the Die Hard franchise a mere two years later. I wish that Renny had brought his mid-franchise charm to the Die Hard franchise the way that he graced the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. I'm sorry to say it people but I did not love his take on a Die Hard movie all that much.

"Get me out of this movie!"

I have heard several opinions about Die Hard 2: Die Harder over the years. One of my friends, Chris Gutierrez, has always told me that it is the worst film in the franchise. However, the guys over at AOBG.com rank it as one of the top 100 action films of all time and Vern of Aintitcoolnews.com thinks it's a solid sequel. Even the late Roger Ebert considers the film to be superior to Die Hard 1! I think that my opinion falls somewhere in the middle of all these other opinions. I agree with my friend Chris that the film suffers from forced humor, annoying characters, and an all around lack of excitement. However, I also agree with Vern and AOBG that the film contains spot on action, entertaining villains, and a fun but ridiculous plot. I guess I have a sweet spot for the action blockbusters of the 1990's, sue me.

And come on guys, "Die Harder"? I just can't get behind that subtitle. Am I an audience of one on this?

Die Hard 2 is Die Hard all over again but bigger, louder, and dumber. John McClane (Bruce Willis) is waiting at the airport for his wife (Bonnie Bedelia) to arrive from her flight. Unfortunately for the McClanes, a group of terrorists have chosen to take over the airport that very night. Fronted by the insane Colonel Stuart (William Sadler), the men shut down all of the lights on the runway and take over the communications board of the watch tower. The terrorist group demand for the safe landing of General Esperanza (Franco Nero), a man who will be tried for drug trafficking once he lands on U.S. soil. McClane is roped into the situation because his wife is up in the sky in a plane that will eventually crash once it runs out of fuel. In the words of McClane, "How can the same s*** happen to the same guy twice!"

Paul Blart: Airport Cop

Die Hard 2 is a decent sequel. It retains many things from the original film: bloody action, a limited location, the Christmas theme, evil terrorists, John's wife in danger, and characters from the previous installment return too. Much like The Matrix Reloaded, Rambo: First Blood Part 2, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Road Warrior, Die Hard 2 is a bigger sequel on a larger playing field in contrast to its small scale predecessor.

However, bigger is not always better. Unlike the first Die Hard, Die Hard 2 is not as exciting or as suspenseful. While I was literally on the edge of my seat during McTiernan's Die Hard, I was laid back and relaxed during Harlin's Die Hard 2. The film lacks the sense of realism and excitement that the original has. I guess this is where the line of the lovers and haters of this film is drawn. If you are okay with Die Hard turning into a more typical action blockbuster, than Die Hard 2 is for you. However, if you want a truly exciting and suspenseful film along the lines of the first film, skip this movie and check out Die Hard With a Vengeance.

It also doesn't help that Renny Harlin does to the Die Hard series what Richard Lester did to Superman II and Superman III. He adds a ton of forced humor, annoying characters, and lousy jokes that literally begin in the first frame of the film and continue into the final frame. I kid you not, the film opens on a joke and ends on a joke. There is no natural humor here at all. Everything is a one liner from an annoying character or a set up joke that "pays off" later. It's a shame the film is like this because the humor in the first film is so natural and believable in contrast to the forced laughs found here. Harlin and Lester would get along great with their terrible senses of humor and ability to crap all over a sequel.

Low on fuel, huh?

There are a ton of flaws that I could write about. However, I want to keep this short. My least favorite thing about the entire film is that it moves too quickly. We the audience and John himself meet the main villain in the first five minutes! There is absolutely no build up or subtlety in this film. It feels like as soon as we meet John that he is already in a shootout with some bad guys! I'm all for an action scene in the first ten minutes of a movie. But Die Hard is too smart to be that lazy.

The supporting characters in this film are your worst nightmare. Not only is almost every character against McClane or not on his side, but they all get loads of screen time! I think every character besides John McClane literally get the same amount of screen time. Therefore, the film felt like a constant bombardment of annoying characters telling John what he can and cannot do. 

The film is also pretty darn boring. After the terrorists reveal their plot to the airport security and John, the film really slows down. There is too much time in between action sequences and simply too much talk amongst characters. The film also suffers from some HUGE logical plot errors. For example, the terrorists apparently have plastic glocks that cannot be detected in a metal detector, the terrorists throw numerous grenades into a cockpit that don't explode for a whopping thirty-forty seconds, the airport watch tower never thinks about sending the airplanes in the sky to other airports, and a fuel-less plane explodes as if it were full of fuel. The CinemaSins YouTube channel need to count the sins in this movie because they would have quite a heyday.

Robert "T-1000" Patrick

However, I don't despise this film. I'm too much of a positive person to rip even a film like Die Hard 2 to shreds. When the film was released in 1990, it made a whopping $240 million worldwide off of a $70 million budget. Audiences clearly enjoyed this film and were desperate for some more John McClane. Even with all of its flaws, Die Hard 2 has the benefits of a 90's blockbuster with all of its explosions, shootouts, and ridiculous villains.

I am a huge fan of Christmas themed action films. It's quite probably the greatest sub-genre of action cinema in existence (The Long Kiss Goodnight, First Blood, Die Hard, etc). Die Hard 2 is filled with Christmas decorations, Christmas music, and snow. I'm a Christian and respect Christmas as the time that Jesus Christ was born into this world. However, I also love the heck out of a movie taking all of the love and charm out of a Christmas themed movie and filling it with bloody gun fire, exploding planes, and insane villains. I'd love to see somebody write a book or analyze all of the Christmas themed action films. There is just something about an action packed Christmas themed film that energizes me.

I also loved how entertaining the villains were in this film. While the terrorists are nowhere near as awesome as Hans and his group of German baddies (plus Al Leong), they are led by two great actors. Colonel Stuart (Hard to Kill's William Sadler) is as over the top as an action movie villain can get. He is introduced to us as he practices karate in his hotel room completely naked. He grabs his remote control and whips around to turn the television off as if he were going to shoot it. What the heck? I love this guy!

"My name is Django."

Franco Nero also graces us with his amazing presence as the General that the terrorists are trying to save at the airport. Nero is most well known for his many Euro Westerns (Django, Companeros, Texas Adios). We even get blessed with a small scene between Willis and Nero, two of the greatest action icons in cinema history. I like Nero as a villain and hope that he continues to play antagonizing roles (his cruel cameo in Django Unchained is also great). Robert Patrick even has a small role as one of Stuart's henchmen.

These villains are even more hard core than Hans was in Die Hard. When the men realize that McClane has interfered with their plans, they misdirect one of the planes in the sky down to the ground and cause it to explode into smithereens. Poor McClane tries to warn the plane while on the ground but he just can't. I love how McClane cries when the plane explodes. It shows that McClane really cares about people and that he will do anything to save innocent civilians from crazed mad men. This is a great character trait and I loved that Harlin carried this over from the first film.

The final thing that I have to talk about is the film's excellent action scenes. AOBG.com point out that Die Hard 2 "Dies Harder" because there is so much more action and violent dispatches seen throughout the film. There is no denying it, all of the action scenes in this film are pretty awesome. There is an excellent shootout around minute forty inside of an under construction airport terminal. John has to combat three terrorists as he rolls around and fires his gun numerous times. McClane even gets to take out a terrorist with an icicle to the face! I guess Die Hard 2 really does "Die Harder."

McClane ducks and rolls in an excellent gun fight.

So Die Hard 2. I want to like this movie but I just can't bring myself too. The film has some excellent gun fights, huge explosions, and truly feels like dumb popcorn entertainment. However, the film suffers from a horrible sense of humor, lousy characters, and just a load of unnecessary sub plots (I didn't even bother to mention that Fred Thompson returns as the annoying anchorman Trudeau and ends up on the same flight as Mrs. McClane. I'd rather forget that "humorous" subplot isn't even in the film). But alas, Die Hard 2 made money and a lot of action fans and critics out there loved it. You may read my review and completely disagree with me. Die Hard 2 doesn't have the same sequel hate that Ghostbusters 2 and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom have. Therefore, I am going to recommend Die Hard 2 ONLY to "die hard" action fans who just have to see Bruce Willis gun down some terrorists and blow up some planes. Tune in next time for the return of John McTiernan and the white tank top in...Die Hard With a Vengeance!

Rating: 6/10 - Forced humor, logical errors, and annoying characters make the action packed Die Hard 2 plane come crashing down in a firey explosion. Get it? Like what I did there...

Franchise: Die Hard

Die Hard (dir. John McTiernan, 1988)

Die Hard 2: Die Harder (dir. Renny Harlin, 1990)

Die Hard With a Vengeance (dir. John McTiernan, 1995)

Live Free or Die Hard (dir. Len Wiseman, 2007)

A Good Day to Die Hard (dir. John Moore, 2013)