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I’m going to confess it: I loved this film. You can roll your eyes with disappointment now, because I don’t care, I enjoyed every minute of A Good Day To Die Hard.
It’s not a movie to win Oscars (maybe MTV Movie Awards), and everyone involved in the making of this Die Hard knew it. It’s made to entertain, to satisfy the fans of the saga with a new installment and to attract new audiences, because this film can be seen as a standalone story.
It’s an unpretentious action flick where there are over-the-top scenes that will blow your mind (my personal favourites are the car chase after McLane sees his son for the first time and the helicopter scene -sorry, I love that stuff) and also funny moments, with that kind of humour you have in a Die Hard movie.
The new aspect of this film is the dynamics between McLane and his son Jack, played by Aussie newcomer Jai Courtney. They have great chemistry in their scenes together, and it’s interesting (yes, I’ve written that word in a Die Hard review) to appreciate the difference between the experience of one and the impetuosity of the other. Young Jack tries to be as professional as possible, while John acts more relaxed from his more experienced view. Even then, there’s not a single minute in this film to catch your breath.
The main plot is that our beloved John McLane hasn’t seen his son in years, and after some research, he discovers that he has been arrested in Russia, so he (obviously) travels there to help him, only to unintentionally meddle in Jack’s assignment, since he is actually a CIA operative. The result of this is a lot of action and a lot of cool scenes, trust me. And I also like McLane’s motivation in this film: the family touch makes it somehow better.
I would like to point out how Bruce Willis doesn’t seem to grow old. He could be doing these films forever! John McLane is to Bruce Willis what Ethan Hunt is to Tom Cruise: an action character which can also be delved into and, therefore, continue giving us as many films as we want to enjoy.
So trust me, it is worth it. Seriously. I am a girl and I’m telling you that I loved it.
THE INCREDIBLY QUOTABLE JOHN MCLANE
I was amazed by how many quotable lines I heard in this film, and I laughed at most of them. You can read some of them below, but the truth is that they are way funnier in their context in the film. Anyway, you get the idea…
-Jack: “Certain dead”
-John: “Like your mother’s cooking“
(A guy yells at John in Russian. John punches him) “You think I understand a word you say!!?”
(Repeatedly throughout the film) “I’m on f**ing vacation!!”
-John: “You need a hug?”
-Jack: “We’re not really a hugging family”
(Jack throws his father’s phone on the floor and tramples on it) “It’s a two year contract to that phone…”
“The shit we do for our kids” (Right before driving a car out of a helicopter)
I will also make mention of John trying to speak Russian and his imperceptible V-sign by the end of the film (well, the finger, it’s an American film after all…)
Yippee-ki-yay!! (I’m not saying the end of that line…).