Western Oregon Journal

Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: Culture

By Kyle Martinak
Culture Reporter

When action films are discussed, they are measured by how they stand up to Die Hard. Nothing compares to Bruce Willis, circa 1988, blowing away Euro-trash terrorists and trading quips with the great Alan Rickman. That film has defined the American action film genre for the last twenty years.

Now, Willis is back as John McClane, but action films have changed since the last time he broke out the dirty tank-top. CGI has taken over the stunts, martial arts now dominate the fight scenes, and battle situations are so ridiculous, you'd swear that you were watching a Japanese cartoon (one man versus…a jet?)

So, how does Live Free or Die Hard (quite possibly the tackiest title ever) change all of that new stuff, and bring back the gritty sensibility of 80's action? Well, it really doesn't. Unfortunately, the successful formula used in the original Die Hard has been thrown out and the new 'better' methods implemented with John McClane transplanted into the plot as hero.

The first thing I heard about this movie that made me wince, besides the title, was the fact that it was being produced as a stand-alone movie, and became a Die Hard sequel almost as an afterthought. After reserving judgment for months, then seeing it, I regret that this wasn't just a cool new action movie.
The acting is still pretty good. Even though the script is laughably bad in spots, the actors still are great with what they have. Willis seems to be enjoying himself, for the first time since Die Hard With a Vengeance, and it helped the audience enjoy it, even through the forced McClane-esque jokes. Justin Long, as the obligatory sidekick, is very funny near the beginning, and provides a good foil for Willis, just like Samuel L. Jackson before him. Unfortunately, Long got stuck being the cheerleader for most of the film, chiming in with exasperated and hyperventilated obscenities, showing us that what just happened was tense…because we didn't see that car flying through the air, or that plane exploding. Timothy Olyphant is a good villain. Not only that, he's a villain with a purpose. He also has the thankless job of setting up the countless jokes at his expense. He can't hold a torch to Rickman, or Jeremy Irons, but he got his job done better than most. Even Kevin Smith's cameo was fun, even if it didn't belong…and felt like an obligatory cameo.

The plot was…not bad. I think it would have been better if this had not been a Die Hard movie. It seemed too frenetic. Too much traveling, too large of a scale. It was no longer personal. While the idea of shutting down the whole country, because everything runs off of computers now, is very engaging, the filmmakers only seemed to want to use it to point out how old McClane is…which is not fun for very long.

Continued...

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