Can it ever
really be A Good Day to Die Hard? The problems start with the
title of the fifth installment in the franchise, but they don't stop there.
John
McClane is back and this time he doesn’t know Jack. That's not saying he is
stupid, though his brash American ignorance does provide some laughs in this
Russian-set sequel. Actually, his son is named Jack, and John has failed to get
to know him in the past. Their father and son relationship is so strained that everyone's
favourite NYC cop is not even aware his own son is working for the CIA
undercover in Russia.
McClane Sr. takes off to the mother country to help his wayward son out of what
looks like a serious bind.
Very
quickly things get back to business. The stunts are nothing short of
spectacular. Vehicular mayhem on the streets is followed by shootouts and
jumping off buildings that are wonderfully OTT, but once again prove in fine style how hard to kill the
McClanes are. The persistent use of old school stunts and practical effects is
admirable with every crash of cars and crash landing being bone-crunching and
glass-smashingly brutal. That is until the last act ludicrousness that also blighted
the last entry in the franchise shows up again in some CG-assisted madness that
is simultaneously explosively entertaining and just a little too far over the
top. It is a problem familiar from Die Hard 4.0 with that film's jumping-off-jet action requiring a reliance on CG rendering that is disappointing to die
hard old school action fans.
However,
most of the action is delirious fun and what we would expect of the franchise.
On the other hand Skip Woods’ script must shoulder most of the blame for the
shortcomings of A Good Day to Die Hard. While McClane gets to banter with his
estranged son and raise the odd smirk, the character feels like a third wheel
in the first half, supplementary to requirements and crow barred into the
action carelessly. There is a silly last act rug pull and some clangers as the
climax approaches, while McClane has lost much of his world weary wit that has
made him such a fun character to watch in the past. The relationship with Jack
shows promise with some fun banter between the pair but soon descends into
cheesiness.
It is
becoming increasingly hard to care for what the McClane's are fighting for.
While money has always been a factor in the villains' plots throughout the
franchise, the first also had a building full of hostages, the second had
planes threatening to drop out of the sky and the third has schools full of
children at risk, and therefore to care about. Crucially the fourth in the
franchise failed to raise this level of threat and it is a similar problem in A
Good Day to Die Hard.
While few
will dispute that there was never a better day for this franchise to have died
hard than after the towering success of the first film, many (including myself) will also defend
the rest of the original trilogy for their further attempts to make McClane die
in the hardest of ways. How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice,
thrice, four times and now inconceivably a fifth time after all? Well the
fundamental problem with particularly the last three in the series is that this
is far from the same shit happening to the same guy again and again. In fact,
starting with Die Hard with a Vengeance, John McClane's antics have been less
and less constricted, the Christmas time setting was lost and much of what made
the first film work was lost. Fans don't want too much originality from a sequel and
McClane has never been as thrilling when he has a whole city to run around in.
The
producers are very much like the villains of the series, dazzling audiences
with spectacle while they secretly rob us of our money. Why a director like Moore and writer like
Woods are hired for such a huge franchise is mysterious. Surely A Good Day to
Die Hard should attract the biggest names in Hollywood, not the guys who brought us deeply
average entertainment such as The Omen remake and The A Team film. Moore does a fine job and
for the most part should be commended on his handling of the thrilling action
sequences but the flaws lie mostly with the script. Those action scenes are
shot and edited with a precision lacking in many modern action films but
McClane's dialogue should be more fun than this. His repetition of certain
grumbles is a constant limitation of the script.
A Good Day
to Die Hard is incredibly short and feels it too. The running rime is brief
compared to other films in the franchise and the pace is incredibly brusque.
The set up is economical, the set pieces whiz by like bullets and before you
know it the film is entering its final third with barely enough time to have reacquainted
yourself with McClane or dug deep enough into the family history and reasons
for John and Jack's hostility.
Die-hard
Die Hard fans will, again, have to wince their way through the deeply saddening lack
of bloody violence too. Again showing little respect for the fan base, A Good
Day to Die Hard has been trimmed for a 12A rating and it definitely shows in
places with a couple of climactic moments being surely snipped to appease the
censors. It's not a family film so it’s deeply sad to see the scissors back at
work.
One of the
biggest problems with the film is the persistent musical refrains familiar from
the rest of the franchise. While this wonderful music provides continuity
through the series, it also emerges at pivotal moments and drags those of us
far too familiar with the original film right back to the past glories and
renders anything new insignificant in comparison. However a new generation not
raised on the classic first installment will most likely find as much to love in
this fresh entry in the franchise as oldies did in the first.
There is the
temptation to hope for a sixth entry that can set the wrongs right and Willis
and Fox will no doubt be all over it if this one makes a tidy enough profit. On
the other hand, A Good Day to Die Hard is an improvement on Die Hard 4.0 and
therefore it might be a good day to retire on a relatively high note. After all,
a disappointing sixth entry might finally ensure that the franchise dies… hard.
