cult film freak: A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD

Written by James M. Tate / 2/14/2013 / No comments / 2013 , action , bruce willis , franchise , jai courtney

A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD

2/14/2013 | No comment

year: 2013 cast: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch, Cole Hauser rating: ***

“I’m on vacation,” John McClane replies (minus a particular “adjective”) after a long busy day firing machine guns, crashing a truck through a crowded freeway and surviving other dangerous situations to aid his wayward son Jack, a secret agent in Moscow hired to protect an important witness from being killed by a big bad crime syndicate.

The witness, along with a "secret file" everyone wants to get their hands on, is the plot in a nutshell, which matters little in this action-packed fifth outing of the DIE HARD franchise. Even Jack's sporadic gripes about John not being a good father are lost in the bombastic glory.

Bruce Willis has aged perfectly for the kind of character he’s become. A grizzled, experienced cop who, at first, merely tags along as his son takes charge, has more than a few tricks up his sleeve to make the risk-taking not only riskier, but he gets results.

There are a few twists – twists upon twists, actually – but these should be kept secret. Not that they add or subtract from what’s gonna happen anyway: a lot of bloody gunfights and one… or actually… two maverick Americans turning Moscow, and eventually Chernobyl, into their own bullet-ridden playground.

The nice thing is the movie isn’t very long, and though there’s not much to follow but a very basic “stay alive so you don’t get killed” template, the father/son teamup, especially Willis’s snarky tomcat with more than nine lives to spare, are fun to watch as they bond throughout the constant pandemonium.

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Tags : 2013 , action , bruce willis , franchise , jai courtney

James M. Tate

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MOVIES 1)THE FEARMAKERS 2)JAWS 3)THE CROWDED SKY 4)HOT CARS 5)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD 8)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 9)CANYON PASSAGE 10)AIR PATROL 11)CURSE OF THE DEMON 12)EASY LIVING 13)SHARKS' TREASURE 14)HARDCORE 15)WICHITA 16)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 17)KILLER FISH 18)CANYON RIVER 19)WHITE HEAT 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)AL CAPONE 22)THE SERGEANT 23)THE DEFECTOR 24)QUANTRILL'S RAIDERS 25)WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS 26)HOTEL 27)ANATOMY OF A MURDER 28)MADISON AVENUE 30)SWEENEY TWO

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