Thursday, June 28, 2007

John F'N McClane

I will start off by saying John McClane is one of my favorite characters of all time when it comes to cinema. Don't know why, maybe it was my impressionable youth when I saw my Die Hard for the first time, all I know is when I cried during Armageddon it wasn't because that character died, it was because I was thinking about John McClane.

Going into the fourth installment I have been very skeptical. I was NOT a fan of the third one, bigger doesn't always mean better. I was a fan of the centralized locations of the first two movies, it just works better. I don't even care if you add Samuel L. mother fuckin Jackson to the movie, it just didn't work for me. It also apparently didn't work too well for the audience either as it definitely didn't do as well as the previous two movies. With all that said, I was definitely skeptical of Live Free or Die Hard.

I can gladly say all my hesitation about the fourth movie was unwarranted, it was a kick ass flick.

Yeah, it's a bigger scale and it has a few ridiculous stunts, but so does every Die Hard movie. I thought Justin Long added a great deal to this flick and I don't know if it would have been enjoyable without that character. Kevin Smith was great as the "jedi", not saying too much don't want to ruin anything or give away too much spoiler wise, but everyone on this film just seemed to click. It wasn't a case like some movies where you question why that person was cast for a certain role, no, I think each and every part was chosen right, and they all worked like a well oiled machine.

I was worried that a much older Bruce Willis would bring down the role, it did not. That in turn gives me hope when it comes to the new Indy flick. If Bruce Willis can make a believer out of you at his age, Harrison can do the same with Dr. Jones. There was also definite hotness going on in this flick as well. I've had a thing for Mary Elizabeth Winstead since I saw Sky High and she played the part of Lucy McClane perfectly. She gave that attitude that papa has very well, and I bought it, which is always important for me to get a movie to work.

Timothy Olyphant, I was worried about his casting because he just gave off the prick vibe in almost every role I've ever seen him in. You probably know him best as the porn producer in The Girl Next Door. That being said, he also makes it work. That vibe works very well with that character, sure he's no Hanz Gruber, but no one really is are they?

In the end, this was a fun entertaining ride. If you just need some action to pump into your bloodstream, with decent enough acting that doesn't make you as nauseous as most actions movies, this is the movie to go see. You have your choice of this and Sicko this weekend, which I'm still gonna see. Thankfully Live Free or Die Hard came out yesterday and so there is no conflict, just a biding of time till Transformers.

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