STRAP ON YOUR SEATBELT, BRUCE IS IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT
LIVE FREE DIE HARD |
|
| In Theatres: | June 29, 2007 |
| On DVD: | TBA |
![]() |
|
| Reviewed by: | Louis B. |
| Official website: | www.livefreeordiehard.com |
| Movie Trailers | |
| FULL REVIEW | |
| User ratings: | |
Drag out the cliches.
Slather on the hyperboles.
After a hiatus of 17 years, Bruce Willis’ rogue cop John McClane is back.
If 20th Century Fox really did pay Willis $30 million US to make a fourth Die Hard, it was worth every penny.
Willis and his team of writers, producers, director and costars have created the best popcorn movie of the summer.
Live Free Die Hard is not the best “movie” of the summer but it is, without question, the summer’s best action flick so far.
After the disappointing sequels for Spider-Man, Shrek, Pirates and Oceans, it’s a relief to report that this fourth time out for Willis is a blast of pure kenetic energy.
It is an adrenalin rush, a fun-house ride and two hours of non-stop thrills and laughs.
Yes, McClane is has not lost either his dry wit, biting satire or macho posturing.
McClane is sent out on a routine assignment to pick up a young hacker named Matt Farrell (Justin Long) only to find himself in the middle of a cyber terrorist attack.
Computer geeks will have a much better idea of what master villain Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) is attempting to do, why and how and that may add a whole new layer of excitement but even if you’re as clueless, confused and intimidate as I was and McClane professes to be you’re still in for one wild time.
Buildings, roads and vehicles explode, implode, crumble, smash and crash.
Yes, the computers are working overtime to create many of the effects but just as many are accomplished through good old-fashioned eye-popping, heart-pounding, gravity-defying stunts.
Would Willis and his stunt men stand up and take a well-earned bow!
Willis is also well served by Long who plays his disbelieving side-kick.
He works overtime to set Willis up for some of the biggest laughs in the film.
Olyphant makes a great villain.
Half way through the film I wanted to jump into the film and wipe that smarmy look off his face.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith has a fun cameo as a basement bound hacker named Warlock and Maggie Q is one kick-butt assassin as Olyphant’s lover and henchwoman.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead proves she really is McClane’s daughter and not some wimpy teenager.
There is no way any human being could take the punishments inflicted on McClane but Willis makes it seem plausible.
Live Free Die Hard is the kind of action adventure that delivers so many thrills, you are aching to see it again while you’re watching it and not just as the final credits begin to roll.















