The fear with any successful series is that whilst you obviously eagerly await the next instalment, you are at the same time fearful of it sullying your happy memories of what came previously. The original Die Hard managed to at once create a new genre, and become the best example of it. Luckily the mix of audacious stunts, excitement, and one-liners remains in the fourth in the series, Die Hard 4.0 (or Live Free or Die Hard as it is called in America, where you can apparently stomach such a title without a significant dose of irony, given today’s political situation).
It’s another average day for John McClane (Bruce Willis), everyone’s favourite grouchy, sweaty maverick cop, until another megalomaniac (Timothy Oliphant) decides to ruin it, this time by crashing the world’s computer systems and therefore causing mayhem. McClane is the one man who can stop him, armed only with his sense of duty, lack of respect for Health and Safety, and a supergeek (Justin Long). What follows is a rollicking rollercoaster of a film, full of explosions, incredible stunts, and twisty turns.
Willis is of course excellent in the role that made his name in film. Long, who will always be Warren from Ed to me, is extremely funny as McClane’s antithesis, and it was wonderful to see Kevin Smith as an even super-er geek (his perfect part) adding even more comic fun to the mix. Oliphant is not as deliciously maniacal in a pantomime way as previous Die Hard villains, coming across as more of a spurned trust-fund baby rather than pure evil, but sneers well all the same. The set pieces are jaw-dropping in their chutzpah, and make this the perfect popcorn movie. Definitely the best of this summer’s blockbusters so far, Die Hard 4.0 maintains McClane’s standing as the king of the action film.
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