Reboots are the downfall of modern cinema.
That is the thought that has been reverberating in my mind over the last few years as Hollywood has stopped creating art in films, but instead has resorted to making painfully long franchises and is remaking the same old films we’ve all seen 20 times, in order to make a pretty penny.
That is completely evident in the latest John McClane adventure “A Good Day to Die Hard.” In the newest edition to the “Die Hard” franchise, John McClane, played by Bruce Willis, goes to Russia to help his son Jack McClane (Jai Courtney) from being sentenced to life in prison for murder.
But when McClane gets to Moscow, his vacation turns into another wild adventure of explosions, gunfights and some cheesy one-liners that often fail to hit their marks.
I was excited to hear that they were making another “Die Hard” because the last one, “Live Free or Die Hard,” was not a great movie, but I was completely let down because this movie was awful.
The script in the latest “Die Hard” movie was terrible and took those one-liners that we know and love from the original three “Die Hard” films and shoved them down your throat as part of a script that makes “Twilight” look like Shakespeare.
Also, director John Moore has taken everything we love about John McClane and made him just another overpowered action hero. The original three “Die Hard” movies had a protagonist who showed fear, got hurt and could only do things that everyday police officers could do.
In “A Good Day to Die Hard,” the relatable quality that enthralled viewers of the original three movies was ruined once again. Why does McClane have to crash motorcycles into helicopters, go through massive car wrecks without a scratch and attack dozens of bad guys without so much as a flinch?
That is why this movie was so terrible. It wasn’t just one component; it was a combination of horrible direction, a horrible script and a surprisingly horrible performance by Willis and Courtney, who had absolutely no chemistry even when playing father and son.
I am criticizing this movie because in no way was it a good movie. However, I have to admit I had a good time watching it. It is one of those movies where the action is good enough that you can just sit back and enjoy the destruction. That, along with the comically bad script, allowed me to zone out and just enjoy it.
For that reason I will not give this movie as bad of a rating as I would have. I give it a 2 out of 5.