Live Free or Die Hard
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Directed by: Len Wiseman
Starring:
Bruce Willis - John McClane
Justin Long - Matt Farrell
Timothy Olyphant - Thomas Gabriel
Maggie Q - Mai Lihn
Cliff Curtis - Bowman
I don’t mean to pre-judge a film, but when I heard that the latest installment in the Die Hard franchise (and it is a late installment, twelve years after 1995’s Die Hard with a Vengeance) would be rated PG-13, I thought that such a rating indicated that the restrictions on the language and violence would automatically make this a sub-par entry. And it’s not that cursing or gore instantly makes for a better film but it’s a fundamental aspect of the previous films. The character of John McClane isn’t just a reluctant hero, but a very human hero who curses often and gets the ever-loving shit kicked out of him while delivering even harsher treatments to the bad guys. Live Free or Die Hard pits McClane against his biggest threat yet and even though the proceedings barely qualify as a true Die Hard movie, it turns out that you can make a pretty good Die Hard movie with a PG-13 rating; you just can’t make a great one.
As always, it’s John McClane vs. Terrorism but after 9/11, the series has to find a threat that has yet to become reality: cyber-terrorism. Granted, like all the other terrorists from these films, the villain (Timothy Olyphant) is more concerned about money than furthering a cause. And while the technobabble will surely drive true technophiles in the audience apoplectic, the film mostly plays by its own rules (although there’s never an answer about why big bad Travis Gabriel just doesn’t take control of a nuclear missile silo and launch a rocket straight up McClane’s wise-crackin’ ass). Unfortunately, Gabriel isn’t so much a villain as much as he’s a collection of motives and abilities in search of a personality. Olyphant does his best to breathe life into the character, but it’s clear that he’s as uncertain about the character’s personality as the rest of us.
Bruce Willis has no such problems as he comfortably slips back into the character of McClane. While he’s eased up on the swearing, Willis knows that the heart of this character is a working stiff who does the tough job not because he wants to, but because he feels morally obligated to it. He remains, as always, the cowboy of the 20th century: cynical but morally constant. There’s never a doubt that McClane will do whatever it takes to protect the wise-cracking but hapless hacker, Matt Farrell (Justin Long).
The two characters have great chemistry (although not quite as good as the odd couple of McClane and Samuel L. Jackson’s Zeus in Vengeance) and the action scenes manage to get the blood pumping by relying more on stunt work rather than CGI feats of superhuman ability (the most phenomenal feats belong to Cyril Raffaeli parkour stunts). Yet without the blood, the violence seems a tad too cartoony as numerous characters get the ever-loving shit kicked out of them with not even a scratch to show for it.
There’s a little sadness with Live Free or Die Hard as it shows that John McClane and his franchise are monuments to the late 20th century but have a hard time existing in the 21st. McClane is a little too old, technology has left his street-smarts behind, and the demands of major motion pictures mean that he now has to battle fighter jets and make sure that everyone can see his movie without the accompaniment of a parent or guardian. Still, the character doesn’t go down easily and while it may not be a great movie, Live Free or Die Hard certainly ain’t bad for a PG-13 attempt.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
6.25.07