Yippee-kai-yuck, Oh Father!
Die Hard(1988) was one of the first films that I actually bought off the shelf with my pocket money when I was a wee lad. An original crystal case containing two CD-ROMs and a Summer Movie Guide featuring the best movies of the year. It all started with officer John McLane(Bruce Willis), with his gung-ho attitude and procured machine guns, fighting his way through Nakatomi building killing bad guys along the way to the ultimate showdown with the poshest German in history, Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). Since then, four more movies have been made, each one a grislier abomination of the original that had endeared millions of us to root for the underdog cop fighting evil almost single-handedly against all odds.
A Good Day To Die Hard takes place in Russia, where ‘Detective’ McLane travels to Moscow to unite with his son, Jack, who is in trouble with the law there. Little does he know that his son’s arrest has a connection with whistle-blower Yuri Komarov(Sebastian Koch) who is about to undergo a trial. Now Yuri has damaging evidence against Chagarin, a powerful government official and is attacked by his henchmen in the courtroom, only to be saved by the disgruntled father-son duo who constantly engage in acerbic dialogue. As it turns out, the acorn does not fall far from the tree as Jack McLane(Jai Courtney) is revealed to be a CIA undercover operative searching for the evidence against Chagarin. And Yuri has the key to it. The onus of protecting him and the good ol’ American way lies on the McLanes through a plethora of car-chases, gunfights, helicopter crashes and general badassery.
The film starts with a bang, and I mean, a BANG! Insane car-chase scenes with trucks toppling and concrete being smashed like a bowl of eggs, it seems as if the filmmakers picked up the action right where they left off in the fourth movie. The first 20 minutes are enough to awe the viewer with awesome explosions and incredible CGI. Unfortunately, neither the story nor the characters have enough intensity to be deemed plausible or indeed, to be taken seriously at all.
Bruce Willis’s character is less of the John McLane we know and more like Mr. Church from The Expendables. The man is simply invulnerable! What happened to the guy who bled in agony due to a small shard of glass? McLane is much older, yet somehow much tougher, apathetic and unbeatable throughout the film. The adventure through Russia seems a bit too easy for him to be true. He hardly looks like the underdog we would like to root and pray for. Of course, he is now accompanied by his equally tough son which makes matters all the more easier. Jai Courtney is McLane Jr and a troubled problem-child. He is adequate in his role but that is the best he could offer in a script that is so childish and unimaginative. The cast is supported by Sebastian Koch as Yuri and Yuliya Snigir as his daughter.
Director John Moore has outdone himself after Max Payne and created a movie that relies more on in-your-face action instead of something as essential as screenplay or common sense. The film lacked character, style, or more appropriately, the cowboy pizzazz that each and every earlier part in the series boasted of. It rides only on the aura of John McLane created decades ago and if we are lucky, he just might submit his badge, gun and start a real, trouble-free vacation after all.
My Rating: 3/10
The Fats:
Great car chase sequences. Good CGI.
The stained white shirt is back.
Only 97 minutes long.
The Slims:
Overuse of the words “I’m on vacation” and “Jesus”.
John McLane is a supporting character.
Pretty much everything else.
2 Notes/ Hide
- il-faut-etre-shooter liked this
- mckaylacourtney liked this
- thefatslim posted this