: 08/19/06 ) is his deadly sidekick. They lead an army of guys in black and nerds in glasses (at keyboards). But they haven't counted on John McClane.
As the franchise goes, this one mostly avoids Bond-silliness (there's a climbing bit borrowed from ) and flirts with Tom Clancy reality. It has turf battles among the various Feds (Cliff Curtis is the head guy), tech talk about America's electronic vulnerability, and Willis lecturing "the kid" on how you shouldn't want to be a hero and what it means to be "that guy," even as he is in the middle of being "that guy." Again.
Every scene feels recycled and every snappy one-liner pretty much snapped out. For all the stunning stunts and dazzling digitals Len Wiseman ( ) throws at us, this is a movie that feels not so much retro as unhip attempting to be hip. There's this master hacker living in his mom's basement who calls himself "Warlock" (Kevin Smith, too-perfectly cast) who serves no purpose in the plot.
The tech hacking, never the most exciting thing to show on screen, is all fingers flying over keys and guys -- good and bad -- yelling, "I'm in !" Willis wears out " " during the various chases. And you can bet your house note that when the Feds feud, at least one of them will trot out "That's above your pay grade" as a putdown.
It's fitting that a movie about computer hacking should be hackwork (by Mark Bomback), a series of cuts and pastes. Still, Willis always had a way with this sort of comic bravado. His McClane bleeds and staggers after every fight.
It's a pity they didn't have a joke writer on call, or cast somebody with a little more presence as his foe. Only Maggie Q holds her own with him. Check out the movie for her big fight.
The kid and the villain might be non-starters, but she, like Willis, is the very embodiment of "die hard." ) is his deadly sidekick.
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