Film: A Good Day to Die Hard
Release Date: Feb. 14
Studio: Giant Pictures
Grade: D+
Poor John McClane. Regardless of how many platoons of highly equipped European henchmen he slaughters, his family resents the very thought of interacting with him. The guy has saved countless lives and personally shielded America from a cyber-meltdown, yet his children still blame him for never being around during their childhood 20 years ago.
Boo hoo.
Normal people would embrace their Herculean father and thank the Lord every day that he has survived such daunting odds. Not here. McClane (Bruce Willis, Looper)is once again punished for his lackluster parenting duties by his son, Jack (Jai Courtney, Jack Reacher)who spends all of his screentime during chase scenes blurting out, "Damnit John!" or "Go home, John!" over and over and over again until the point of laughable redundancy.
A Good Day to Die Hardis a complete mess - a lifeless, incomprehensible, harebrained mess. Not a single decently focused shot can be found in it. This film scurries between scenes like a beheaded chicken, and that's an insult to beheaded chickens.
This time, McClane is contested against Russian smugglers, whose ambitions are never solidified.All that's mentioned is apprehending nuclear weapons of some sort. The smuggling project is headed by Irina (Yuliya Snigir, Kokoko) and Alik (Radivoje Bukvic, Goodbye Morocco), two of the most uninteresting villains in recent action picture history. That doesn't discredit the performers, however, who try their best to save the torturous script.
And that's about all there is to it. Russian bad guys materialize out nowhere and pose as target practice for the McClanes. Even the chase scenes are filmed dreadfully, which is unfortunate when recent films like Skyfall and Jack Reacher prove that modern action thrillers can be crafted expertly and sustain adrenaline to the audience. But A Good Day to Die Hard is oblivious to space and time, never cluing viewers to where anybody is in relation to each other during the action.
What's most infuriating about this fifth Die Hard entry is it doesn't have time to tell a story. It doesn't have time to worship the preposterous immortality of John McClane, one of cinema's most treasured action icons next to John Rambo and James Bond. It doesn't have time to establish father-son relationships or an ingenious evil plot by the Russian organization.
This film doesn't have time for anything. It's an accumulation of causeless effects, showing no interest in pacing the audience through a high-stimulated thriller like the prior Die Hards. All that's on the agenda are ear-piercing machine gun discharges and stuff that gets blown up, which grows repetitive and boring.
Action films should never, ever be boring.
Every grain of blame rests on the inferiority of director John Moore (Max Payne) and writer Skip Woods (The A-Team). Moore has already suffered audiences through amateur action treads like Max Payne, Flight of the Phoenix and Behind Enemy Lines and doesn't show signs of improvement. He should have never received permission to continue such a respected action franchise.
As far as John McClane's life is concerned, this film never happened. This film can be considered as just a bad dream McClane had one night, restless in his bed after experiencing so many traumatizing battles. Which seems fitting, because watching A Good Day to Die Hard is a nightmare.
Whoever picks up the inevitable sixth film must start with a clean slate and rework from the ground up to supply a satisfying conclusion to John McClane's life. Remember, John McClane is NOT just an action hero; he's too good for that. McClane is a hard-nosed cop from New Jersey, always caught at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Well, now the same can be said about the cast and crew of this dismal action picture.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com
