BEFORE: While I'm finishing off movie franchises...I know these films are becoming more enjoyable, because I was filled with a desire to dust off "Grand Theft Auto 3" last night, so I did. A great action film will do that.
THE PLOT: John McClane takes on an Internet-based terrorist organization who is systematically shutting down the United States.
AFTER: Similarities to last night's "Lethal Weapon 4": Fourth (and presumably last) film in a long-running action franchise? Check. Foreign villains with unique fighting styles (martial arts, parkour)? Check. Impossible stunts, plus a ludicrous number of bullets fired? Double check.
Though there are some slight similarities to the third "Die Hard" film (thieves using terrorist-like techniques to distract from the large heist), these are easily excusable, in my view - of course there should be echoes of the previous films in the series - John McClane's wife held hostage in the first film, and his daughter kidnapped in this one, for example.
The action in this film is ramped up to near-unbelievable levels. A couple of sequences made me sit straight up, wide awake, so I wouldn't miss anything. I'm particularly referring to what can be done these days to show a fighter jet shooting missiles at a trailer truck - damn! But wouldn't the fighter pilot have thought twice about shooting at a crowded freeway, considering how much collateral damage would be done to civilians and city property? I'm quibbling, I guess.
Destruction just goes hand-in-hand with a "Die Hard" plot - though this one got a PG-13 rating, somehow, so although a lot of stuff blows up real good, you don't see a lot of bodies, and the language is toned down to "Yippee-Kai-Yay, you bad person, you..."
Bruce Willis (last seen in "The Siege", which I really should have watched next to this one...) is teamed up with Justin Long (last seen in "Walk Hard") for this one - notice that Justin's career took off in films like "Accepted" and "Dodgeball" right after I cast him in an animated feature - before that he was making horror movies like "Jeepers Creepers", so really, doesn't he owe his big-picture success to me? You're welcome, Justin...
Also starring Timothy Olyphant, Maggie Q (last seen in "Mission: Impossible III"), Cliff Curtis (last seen in "Training Day"), Kevin Smith (last seen in "Clerks II"), and Zeljko Ivanek (last seen in "A Civil Action"), and a cameo from Tim Russ (Tuvok from "Star Trek: Voyager")
RATING: 8 out of 10 algorithms
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