Tuesday Night is Film Night is back for the New Year! Did you miss us?
And we are coming back with a vengeance! Which is apt, as the first film for 2014 is;
Die Hard 4.0
Yes, we are back after a prolonged lay off over the Christmas and New Year period. And we do indeed come back with a bang with the fourth installment of the Die Hard series. Bruce Willis is back as the seemingly indestructible John McClane, this time pitting his wits and dirty vest against a gang of cyber criminals who are intent on toppling the infrastructure of the US and creaming off a massive financial gain.
Yet again, McClane is the innocent cop drawn into the terrorist attack, this time he is sent to pick up one of America's top young hackers as a suspect in the cyber break-in. When McClane arrives at the young man's tech hideout, he is not alone as it's not just the FBI after our hacker, but the super cyber-criminals are too. Of course McClane saves the kid from the massive hail of bullets and drags him off to Washington.
The young hacker is Matthew Farrell played by Justin Long. The other stars of this out and out shoot 'em up are; Timothy Olyphant who plays the ex-government employer turned super-criminal Thomas Gabriel, ably assisted by the delightful Maggie Q who plays the high-kicking Mai Linh, who becomes a victim of McClane's charms and having ".... a SUV rammed up her ass!" One of the best lines in the movie!
On the side of the "goodies" we have McClane's daughter Lucy played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead and heading up the FBI investigation is Deputy Director Bowman played by Cliff Curtis.
Of course with a Die Hard film you know what to expect, there are guns a-plenty, car chases with not just cars, there are trucks, vans, helicopters and near the end a F-35 fighter jet!! Totally incredulous and gratuitous over-the-top action, with the bad guys dropping off one by one whilst the indefatigable McClane crawls, hobbles, limps and struggles away from crash after crash, all the while being shot at, falling down lift shafts (with or without a SUV), falling out of trucks, sliding down broken bridges. Totally unbelievable, but totally, totally great action, with tremendous special effects.
The one downer that I would put on this film and films of this ilk, when dealing with Information Technology, make it believable. I don't recall seeing one Windows server being hacked into! The action is over the top, but I would like to see the technology grounded in a modicum of reality, but hey; it's a minor niggle and a question of personal preference over artistic licence.
So all in all, you know where you are with Die Hard and John McClane, you are immersed in two hours worth of action packed escapism, where the underdog will always pull through and win the battle and even though you know this fact, the cinematography, the script, the action will keep you enthralled for the complete 128 minutes of this movie.
You can't beat John McClane and you can't beat a Die Hard movie! Great stuff.
TNiFN Rating 80%
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