Film Review: Die Hard 4.0

Die Hard 4.0 IMDB

Who doesn't love the Die Hard trilogy? Seriously? Even that ropey second one. The first defined the modern action film genre, the second was ropey but the third was a great film.

So now, time has passed and John Mclane is back. And fighting cyber terrorists.

What is it with Hollywood and hackers? When will they realise they hacking never translates well to the screen? That it always kills the pace and that someone typing on a keyboard just doesn't look that interesting. And how can a mobile phone access any computer with no problems?

I'm getting ahead of myself.

Mclane is sent to pick up a witness who may be at the centre of a terrorist attack on America's computer network that is bringing the East Coast to it's knees. Someone is, yet again, in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The main thing you need to consider with a Die Hard film is this: is the action good? And the answer is yes. Things go boom, bad guys get shot, people fight and everything looks great. So in that respect, the film is a success.

But. It is getting a bit over the top. In an effort to out-do the previous films John Mclane is starting to look like Neo in The Matrix. He, and a few of the villains, seem almost indestructible. This might sound strange, but it doesn't seem as believable as some of the previous films. Yes, there were over the top stunts but you could always see that it was a stunt man doing them so you could believe it. Here, you get a few CGed bits that tips it a bit too far the other way.

And not all the script holds up: Mclane's daughter is a bit tacked on and her character changes too quickly and for no reason. Mclane's sidekick is okay, but everything just feels sketched in. The support isn't as good as in Die Hard With A Vengeance.

But, it's a Die Hard film. Bruce Willis kills people, cracks some jokes and saves the day. That's what you wanted, isn't it?

Do ninja's have guns? Because that's the only weapon this film can have: a big shiny gun that holds a lot of bullets.