A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) review

John McClane has fought terrorists in a high-rise office building in Los Angeles. He's fought terrorists in a Washington airport. He's fought a terrorist's vengeful brother in the city of New York, and he's even fought cyber-terrorists who shut down every computer in America. So what's next for the no-nonsense cop from New York who was once called a 'cowboy' by terrorist Hans Gruber? Well, in 'A Good Day to Die Hard', the fifth entry in this long-running series, McClane heads out of the United States and joins up with his son Jack in Russia for another fight with a group of terrorists. But, I hate to break it to you people, but this movie... really sucks. Why? Because it's not a Die Hard movie. Sure, it may bear the name 'Die Hard' but in reality, this is nothing more than just a generic action movie starring Bruce Willis.

In 'A Good Day to Die Hard', NYPD Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) heads to Russia when he learns that his son John Jr. AKA Jack (Jai Courtney) has gotten into some trouble and has been arrested. When he gets there, however, he learns that Jack is actually working for the CIA. For the last three years, he has been on a mission to acquire 'political prisoner' Yuri Komarov (Sebastian Koch), who is believed to have incriminating evidence against a high-ranking Russian official, who has now sent henchmen in order to find Komarov and to kill anyone who tries to oppose him, namely Jack. Now caught up in the whole ordeal as well, John joins forces with his son in order to take down these terrorists before they get their hands on Komarov and this alleged file.

So what's wrong with this movie? Well, there's a lot to talk about in regards to that question, but easily the biggest problem with the film is that there is absolutely no tension. One of the greatest strengths of the last four films was that there was great tension and you got the sense that McClane was in mortal danger. Well, okay, in 'Live Free or Die Hard' he started to live through some outrageous stunts but in this movie, there's no denying it; John McClane has pretty much become superhuman. There are multiple instances where he survives through death-defying stunts with barely any scratches, like in one scene where's he driving a truck and it flips over at least 10 times but he manages to get out without much difficulty. The only real part of the film that has any tension is at the end. Why? Because the final action sequence takes place at Chernobyl and neither John, Jack, or the villains wear any protective gear and there's no indication that any of them get affected by radiation whatsoever (so you can add 'defying logic' to this film's list of many problems).

But that's not the only thing wrong with this film. The plot is so convoluted that the plot outline I just wrote for the film was my best effort of doing so. The plots of the other four films were simple; terrorists attack and John McClane has to stop them. There are somewhere around four villains in this film, and they are all terrible. Jack and John have absolutely no camaraderie at all and Jack spends most of the film yelling at John. At one point, he even threatens to shoot his own father. It's not really Jai Courtney's fault, it's the writing. You can't really blame Bruce Willis, either, but at this point he's not playing John McClane. He's just Bruce Willis in a generic action film that feels more like a video game (which is ironic considering that this director's last film was a video game adaptation (2008's 'Max Payne')) than an actual Die Hard film.

This is a sad day. The legacy of a great franchise is tarnished by what is undoubtedly its worst film ever. It's a film so bad that after I saw it, I bought the first Die Hard film simply out of pity. It's a film that in no way resembles its four predecessors and the end result is just a generic action film starring Bruce Willis, who certainly isn't playing John McClane anymore. I know a lot of people weren't huge fans of the PG-13 rated 'Live Free or Die Hard' but believe me when I say that that film actually felt like a Die Hard film while this film is far from it. Before this film came out, Willis said that he wanted to do at least one more movie after this one before retiring the character. But now, after this film, I recommend that they end the series here because unless this 'Die Hard 6' can be as good as the first four films in the series, this series is pretty much dead.

 

Rating: 0.5/5

2013 Preview: February

Welcome back to this monthly preview of the upcoming films of 2013. This is Part 2 of 12 and today we'll be looking at the films that will hit theaters in the month of February.

*While January saw the return of the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger, fellow 80's stars Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis both have new films coming out this month. Stallone's movie, 'Bullet to the Head', starts off the month on the 1^st. Directed by Walter Hill (producer of the Alien franchise and director of '48 Hrs.'), Bullet to the Head stars Stallone as Jimmy Bobo, a professional hit-man who joins forces with a young detective to take down an enemy in New Orleans.



*Two other movies hit theaters the same weekend as Bullet to the Head. One of these films is a crime-comedy, 'Stand Up Guys'. Al Pacino stars as Val, a con man who is released from prison and reunites with his old partner Doc, played by Christopher Walken. Little does Val know that Doc has been hired by a man known as Claphands to kill Val as revenge for killing his son.



*The final release of the week is 'Warm Bodies', a zombie romantic comedy film from Jonathan Levine, director of 2011's '50/50', and based on the novel of the same name by Issac Marion. Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class) stars as R, a zombie who wanders around America after a mysterious plague wipes out most of the human population. After eating the brains of the boyfriend of a young woman named Julie (Teresa Palmer), R falls in love with her.



*A slew of new movies hits theaters starting on the 8^th of February. The first is a comedy, Identity Thief, directed by Seth Gordon (who helmed 2011's 'Horrible Bosses'). Jason Bateman stars as Sandy Bigelow Patterson, who heads to Florida when he learns that his identity has been stolen by a woman named Diana (Melissa McCarthy).

*'Side Effects' is a psychological thriller from director Steven Soderbergh. Rooney Mara stars as a young woman who tries prescription drugs to deal with her anxiety as she awaits her husband's release from jail. Jude Law, Channing Tatum, and Catherine Zeta Jones co-star.

*This week also sees the first 3-D re-release of the year (one of two (previously five until the cancellation of 'The Little Mermaid 3D' and both 'Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones' and 'Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith') in 'Top Gun', the classic 1986 action film directed by the late Tony Scott starring Tom Cruise as Maverick, a hotshot pilot who enlists at the Navy's prestigious school, Top Gun. The film will see a 6-day re-release in IMAX 3-D starting on the 8^th.





*Valentine's Day Weekend is going to be a packed one at the theater as four new movies are set to come out this week, including two romance films (both of which are based off of books), an action film, and an animated film. The first romance film is 'Beautiful Creatures', based off the novel of the same name by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the first novel in the Caster Chronicles. The story follows a boy named Ethan, who falls in love with a girl named Lena who is revealed to be a Caster, someone that can use magic.



*The other romantic film that weekend is the latest based off of a novel by author Nicholas Sparks, following 'The Notebook', 'Dear John', 'The Last Song', and 'The Lucky One'. In 'Safe Haven', a young woman named Katie (Julianne Hough) moves to the town of Southport, North Carolina harboring a dark secret. While there, she falls in love with Alex (Josh Duhamel), a widower living with his two kids. 'Safe Haven' is directed by Lasse Hallstrom, director of 'Dear John'.



*For the action crowd, this weekend sees the release of 'A Good Day to Die Hard', the fifth entry in the 'Die Hard' series. Bruce Willis reprises his role of NYPD cop John McClane and in this film, he heads to Russia where he becomes involved in a terrorist scheme along with his son Jack (Spartacus' Jai Courtney). It is also the first film in the series to not be based off of either a preexisting novel (Die Hard 1 and 2) or screenplay (Die Hard with a Vengeance/Live Free or Die Hard).

*The animated film released this weekend is 'Escape from Planet Earth'. The film is produced by Rainmaker Entertainment, the company responsible for the first CGI animated series, Reboot, and will be distributed by the Weinstein Company. The film follows astronaut Scorch Supernova, a national hero on his home world of Baab who gets caught up in a trap when he answers an SOS from a dangerous planet.

*A sci-fi horror film hits theaters on the 22^nd. Dark Skies is the latest film from Jason Blum, producer of the Paranormal Activity series and Insidious. Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton (the actor from the 1993 film 'Alive', not the baseball player) star as a couple who must save their family from an alien presence.



*The last film to hit theaters in February is Snitch. Dwayne Johnson stars as the father of a teenaged boy who is framed and put in jail for distributing drugs as Johnson's character tries to clear his son's name.

LIMITED RELEASE OF THE MONTH



*'A Glimpse inside the Mind of Charles Swan III' is a comedy film directed by Roman Coppola, son of Francis Ford Coppola. Charlie Sheen stars as Charles Swan III, a successful graphic designer who tries to turn his life around after his girlfriend dumps him. The film will hit theaters in a limited release starting on February 8^th.