Review: A Good Day To Die Hard

Age doesn’t slow wise cracking New York cop John McLane one bit in the latest all action instalment of this iconic franchise.

We catch up with our hero some years after the events of Die Hard 4.0. Having finally patched things up with his daughter Lucy, McLane(Bruce Willis) heads to Moscow to make amends with estranged son Jack (Jai Courtney) unaware he is working for the CIA and is involved in some pretty heavy “Spy Shit” (in the words of McLane) safe guarding a political prisoner in order to maintain the countries balance of power.

Putting his foot right in it as usual the action kicks off in the first 15 minutes and keeps going through to the end credits. The father/ son dynamic brings a new element to the Die Hard franchise. Son Jack is less than happy to see his estranged father at first, but as the relationship develops between shoot outs with countless Russian bad-guys we start to see that the two of them may have a soft spot for one another after all. Another new feature of this instalment is the 12A certificate, initially I thought this could be damaging to the high intensity of the films action sequences, but it really just serves to keep McLane’s potty mouth in check. (This does however mean a quick cutaway from our heroes iconic catchphrase “Yipee Ki Yay MotherF---“) There are some great nods back to the early Die Hard movies, most notably a bad guy with a distinct hatred of American Cowboys, and a room full of broken glass. 

Despite the non-stop action there is something missing here. There is a distinct lack of those memorable set pieces (think C4 down an elevator shaft, or taking out a helicopter with a cop car) whether it was the shorter running time, lower rating or maybe a lack of ambition in the script, those kind of over the top sequences that leave you thinking “Did he really just do that!” don’t really come rolling in right until the climax. The wait does, however pay off, as the last 20 minutes plays out as a prolonged string of explosions and shoot outs which, for the first time in the movie really do get you on the edge of your seat.

In Short: It isn’t going to go down as one of the high points in the franchise, but as a modern action flick it sure holds up. The perfect kind of movie for a guys night out.