are virtually the same movie, a blend of buddy flick and one-man-army action epic as New York City police Det. John McClane (Willis) overcomes insurmountable odds and astonishing physical abuse, cracks wise ('that's going to wake the neighbors') and thwarts dastardly terrorists. Only the specifics are changed from movie to movie.
But you know what? It's still fun, even 12 years after the last one. The best parts of 'Live Free or Die Hard' are the action sequences.
Director Len Wiseman ('Underworld'), inheriting the reins from veteran John McTiernan, mostly stages the violence with imagination and style (although there may be one too many sequences of McClane dangling in an elevator shaft, from a freeway overpass or in several other situations in which the rest of us would just chuck it all and let go). Eschewing the slice-and-dice editing of so many young filmmakers, Wiseman lets his camera linger just long enough that we can actually tell what's going on. The explosions, gunshots and car stunts have visceral impact.
Astonishingly, the film has escaped an R rating (evidently you can have human bodies blown all over the place as long as they don't bleed too much; also, McClane keeps his language well within PG-13 boundaries). And within the gunfire and agreeably ludicrous stunts, this 'Die Hard' has a kernel of relevance. The premise is that cyber terrorists have the government's mainframes.
They can control traffic lights and surveillance cameras, send stock prices plummeting with phony figures, shut down communication cell phone?satellites, override police radio frequencies, access everybody's financial history, take over the TV and cable networks and shut down all utilities. Welcome to the Stone Age.
Playing the chief baddie this time around is ' are virtually the same movie, a blend of buddy flick and one-man-army action epic as New York City police Det.
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