Live Free or Die Hard

John McClane is back after a twelve-year absence with LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, an adrenaline-pumped series of action sequences that offer up familiar ground while managing to completely entertain and satisfy. Yet while the film is thrilling at parts, it attempts to develop the paper-thin plot fail and throw the film into the depths of pure stupidity.

America is once again on the brink of destruction, and it’s up to John McClane (Bruce Willis) to save the day. This time, a band of vaguely-intimidating computer geeks have gained control of everything in the country (and I mean everything) and are systematically shutting down the systems. McClane is called in to retrieve a well-known hacker (Justin Long), but soon finds himself in another duel with an evil genius who soon sets his sights on McClane’s teenaged daughter.

That’s about as much plot as there is, as it only exists in the first place to create action sequences. The film tries to develop the plot here and there, but it is then that the holes and stupidity of the film become clear. The film’s villain (played by Timothy Olyphant) is a typical monster of the monotone/sneering/never-blinking type, forgoing any sense of real intimidation in favor of having nameless thugs do all the actual work. Aside from threatening phone calls and an occasional slap here and there, Olyphant ultimately does nothing. And where there is a weak villain, there is an even weaker story. Most of the supporting characters range from roll-your-eyes-stupid to hit-your-forehead-stupid, from the envoys of constantly inept security guards to the henchman that follow the “if I can’t see them, they must be dead” policy. Long’s character suffers here as well; his attempts at being the comic relief fail throughout most of the film, save for a humorous bit involving the hijacking of a car. The rest of the time, he runs and ducks, his “save me!” routine quickly tiring.

Yet LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD delivers in the two key elements of any Die Hard film: Bruce Willis’s performance and the action. Willis is clearly having the time of his life, pulling off the dizzying stunts with gusto and an excited smile throughout. When the script tries to develop McClane’s character and explain his actions, it falls into deep clichés; but luckily, the filmmakers know not to focus on it. What the audiences wants is the explosions, and they certainly deliver. Each successive sequence grows in grandeur and spectacle, occasionally demanding an extremely high level of disbelief on the part of the viewer, but the film is too entertaining to write off.

The series has a new director in Len Wiseman (of the UNDERWORLD films), who keeps the tradition of solid action films going while adding nothing new. He has the distracting habit of filming too much in a tight handheld shot, often making it difficult to determine what is actually happening. Yet this became less frequent as the film went on, only heightening the enjoyment factor of the film.

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD offers nothing revolutionary, neither to the action genre or the series. It’s simply what people have come to expect from a Die Hard film, softened a bit to let in the PG-13 masses. Several characters in the film refer to McClane as out of touch in the technology-infested America of today. Yet as Willis demonstrates, as long as evil geniuses are out there, John McClane can and will save the day in time to utter his signature phrase, “Yippee ki yay motherf(CENSORED).”

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