Live Free or Die Hard
Directed by Len Wiseman
Released June 27, 2007
Well this is a lot of fun. It matches, if not outdoes, its three predecessors in the tremendousness of its action scenes. Bruce Willis is back as John McClane, the hot-tempered New York cop who always ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. He has not lost any of his token personality, and his character is only further developed as he interacts with a hacker played by Justin Long, famous as the Mac guy in the Mac/PC commercials. Long at first comes off as obnoxious, but his character becomes easier to like as the film goes on. Timothy Olyphant ("Deadwood") is the villain this time around, and while his character is not that well-written, and not nearly as fascinating as either of the Gruber brothers from the first and third films, he does a great job going above his character, making him both occasionally scary and often very funny. Mary Elizabeth Winstead appears as McClane's daughter in a generally throwaway role, most memorable for her strongheadedness reminiscent of her father. The plot here is more than a bit thin and pretty far-fetched, but the action scenes and Willis' charisma really make it work. And talk about a great action movie.
B+
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