A Good Day to Die Hard
Iconoclastic, take-no-prisoners cop John McClain, for the first time, finds himself on foreign soil after traveling to Moscow to help his wayward son Jack – unaware that Jack is really a highly-trained CIA operative out to stop a nuclear weapons heist. With the Russian underworld in pursuit, and battling a countdown to war, the two McClanes discover that their opposing methods make them unstoppable heroes.
I have lost count as to what number of the Die Hard franchise this is. It is the typical Die Hard movie with John McClain goes on a simple mission and turns it into an explosive extravaganza. We have a new character here, John’s son Jack (John, Jr) who I don’t remember having seen or mentioned in any of the other of the series. Jack is played by Jai Courtney who had a run on the Starz series Spartacus. He played Varros and lost his life at the hands of his friend and fellow gladiator, Spartacus. You may also remember him as one of the principal antagonists in the recent movie, Jack Reacher.
In the beginning, it seems like half the movie is taken up by an extensive road chase. Many of the dialogue overdubs during all the explosions are designed for dramatic humor, but actually seem out of place. The continual back and forth between father and son is a bit juvenile. In the end, as you would expect, the McClains conquer the foe in grandiose style after falls and jumps that would kill anyone but Superman. With Courtney’s hair so short, there is a “strong family resemblance” between him and the aging Bruce Willis. Will Courtney fall heir to the Die Hard franchise? He would be a good choice. He certainly is athletic, well built, and would possibly have more appeal to a younger generation. It would provide a good tag line for continuing the series.
Not the most exciting movie in dialog or plot line, but if you like explosions and gun fire, then this is certainly 1 hour and 38 minutes of entertainment for you.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.