Review: “Live Free or Die Hard” puts twist on series

Starring: Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long, Maggie Quigley, Kevin Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Rated: R

There’s a subset of the “action film” genre known as the “mindless action film.”

While a good percentage of the former is occupied by the latter, the “Die Hard” franchise can’t really be described as “mindless.”

Beyond the realm of possibility? Yes. Ludicrous? A textbook example.

But the writing, characters and plot devices have always been strong enough to raise these movies a notch above the norm.

One had to suspend disbelief – to the nth degree – for the first three “Die Hard” films. In retrospect, they seem almost plausible when compared to the latest installment.

Coming some 12 years after “Die Hard with a Vengance,” the third and least satisfying of the series, “Live Free or Die Hard” sees protagonist John McClane (Bruce Willis) as old as most longtime film critics. Even so, he’s more super-heroic now than he was 19 years ago when he uttered his first “yippie-ki-ay.”

The plot

McClane has always been just a flesh-and-blood New York City police detective. But one suspects the next act in the series will reveal that he has been a true Superman – rather than just a “super cop” – from the beginning.

The first two “Die Hard” films used a tried and true cinematic device wherein the setting becomes almost a character unto itself. From Hitchcock’s “Lifeboat,” to the submarine thriller “Das Boot,” to “Alien” and “The Abyss,” close-quarters, confined space and claustrophobic conditions have added a lot of tension to a story.

“Live Free or Die Hard” doesn’t use this ploy, but it brings in a fresh twist for McClane – now an “old school” cop – in the ethereal form of the universe of cyberspace.

Terrorists commandeer every major network, grid and system and set about to have what computer geeks call a “fire sale.” That means everything must go.

After a breach in a major government computer system, the FBI decides to round up a group of widely diverse, but equally talented, young geeks who have been known to cause a bit of digital mischief here and there.

As we see in the opening scenes, a number of these techies are being killed, blown up by their own booby-trapped computers.

McClane is sent to New Jersey on what he’s promised will be just a routine suspect pickup. When he arrives at the apartment of Matt Farrell (played by Justin Long, the “hip” guy in the Mac vs. PC commercials) McClane finds it less than routine. A team of machine-gun wielding wackos launch an assault on Farrell’s apartment building. Had Farrell not been under the wing of superhero McClane, he surely would have been chopped meat and his entire city block a smoldering rubble.

Jumping off

This is the jumping off point for the “Die Hard” formula. McClane is on a singular mission (although not in a confined space). If we know anything about our hero, it’s that he hates bad guys. Another bit of the formula involves the fact that a McClane family member usually gets trapped in a world she never made. It’s always been Mrs. McClane before (played by Bonnie Bedelia, seen here only in a photograph).

McClane, the villains and the ancillary characters in the “Die Hard” films are always compelling, and while the basic plots have always been intriguing, engaging and plausible, the action sequences are where the disbelief – as well as a lot of the fun – come into play.

If you relished the action in the first three films, you’ll be more than thrilled with “Live Free or Die Hard.” The “you just killed a helicopter with a car” scene featured in previews is by no means the most spectacular or unbelievable of the stunt shots here.

This is not a serious movie. It won’t really make you think (although cyber-terrorism is a very real concern). It won’t change your life or even win an Oscar.

It is, though, a great “popcorn” blockbuster that is well executed and entirely fun to watch.

So, yippie-ki-ay, y’all.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.