Do people still really care about the Die Hard franchise after the
previous installment "Live Free or Die Hard"? I really don't think so.
I pretty much gave "Live Free or Die Hard" still a pass, since it was a
competently made, big budgeted, action-flick but as a part of the Die
Hard franchise it was a horrible installment. It had absolutely nothing
to do with any of the previous movies and really was basically missing
everything in it that made all of the earlier Die Hard movies work.
They worked because they were action-flicks, that however featured a
likable and also realistic protagonist, that was easy to identify with.
In those movies John McClane was above all things a very human
character. But by now, he has turned into a sort of superhero, that
dodges bullets for fun, jumps through windows just because he can and
never seems to be afraid to die or get hurt by anything or anyone. The
action is big, over-the-top and above all unrealistic and all far from
engaging to watch. That all was the case for "Live Free or Die Hard"
but this goes just as well for this latest- and fifth movie of the
series.
But again, once you look at this movie purely as an action flick, there is still no way I can say that this movie is being a horrible one. It's unremarkable and nothing you haven't seen before but it all still remains well made and shot. You could still enjoy it on some action movie levels but even as a simplistic and straightforward action flick, this movie also still has plenty of problems to it.
The story is just really too simple and nonsensical for my taste. Thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't really ever takes it time to buildup things but it throws you pretty much right into the action. The story progresses along with its action but I seriously did wish this movie would had some more slower moments in it at times, to explain the story- and set it and certain characters up far better and more effectively.
Right now, the story as it is comes across as totally irrelevant for the movie and it's also hard to keep up with things, since chances you will start to loose interest in it pretty early on already. There just isn't really anything interesting or surprising to it and even the 'twists' are formulaic and just too predictable.
I do have to say thought that Bruce Willis has still got it in him. OK, so it's not the great McClane we know from the first 3 Die Hard movies but he's still a convincing action star, at the age of 57. Sort of still keeps me hopeful for future upcoming Die Hard movies. All of the other characters remain sort of bland all throughout, including the movie its villains, which is especially disappointing.
I also still kind of liked Sebastian Koch and I would had loved to have seen him in a better Die Hard movie. His performance deserved it, though I admit that it's still a bit of a weird and odd choice that they had to pick a German to play a very Russian character. But having said that, he does it very convincingly and it's too bad not a whole lot of people are going to give him an awful lot of credit for it, simply because it wasn't in a better movie.
Bad as a part of the Die Hard franchise but still OK enough as a simple, big, dumb action flick.
6/10
But again, once you look at this movie purely as an action flick, there is still no way I can say that this movie is being a horrible one. It's unremarkable and nothing you haven't seen before but it all still remains well made and shot. You could still enjoy it on some action movie levels but even as a simplistic and straightforward action flick, this movie also still has plenty of problems to it.
The story is just really too simple and nonsensical for my taste. Thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't really ever takes it time to buildup things but it throws you pretty much right into the action. The story progresses along with its action but I seriously did wish this movie would had some more slower moments in it at times, to explain the story- and set it and certain characters up far better and more effectively.
Right now, the story as it is comes across as totally irrelevant for the movie and it's also hard to keep up with things, since chances you will start to loose interest in it pretty early on already. There just isn't really anything interesting or surprising to it and even the 'twists' are formulaic and just too predictable.
I do have to say thought that Bruce Willis has still got it in him. OK, so it's not the great McClane we know from the first 3 Die Hard movies but he's still a convincing action star, at the age of 57. Sort of still keeps me hopeful for future upcoming Die Hard movies. All of the other characters remain sort of bland all throughout, including the movie its villains, which is especially disappointing.
I also still kind of liked Sebastian Koch and I would had loved to have seen him in a better Die Hard movie. His performance deserved it, though I admit that it's still a bit of a weird and odd choice that they had to pick a German to play a very Russian character. But having said that, he does it very convincingly and it's too bad not a whole lot of people are going to give him an awful lot of credit for it, simply because it wasn't in a better movie.
Bad as a part of the Die Hard franchise but still OK enough as a simple, big, dumb action flick.
6/10
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