Vaulted into international superstardom with the release of the $80 million blockbuster "Die Hard," Bruce Willis became a household name practically overnight. Two years later, most of the cast and crew return for another round of action and comedy, but something went wrong. Missing the frantic pace of the original (or any respectable acting), "Die Hard 2" falls flat.
John McClane (Willis) waits for his wife who is soon to land at Dulles Airport in Washington. Suspecting something is wrong, he is soon entangled in terrorist plot to rescue a drug lord from captivity. Leading the technically advanced group is Colonel Stuart (William Sadler) who soon discovers his plans going awry when McClane makes the first kill. Keeping his wife's plane in the air as a threat by cutting power to the landing strip, McClane has a short amount of time to help the numerous aircraft stranded in the air and make sure the escaping fugitive fails to make an exit.
"Die Hard 2" wastes no time in getting started. The first shoot-out begins within the first 15-minute mark. Then things quickly go downhill fast, the script filled with countless characters and hardly amusing attempts at comedy. Returning cast and crew are many including Bonnie Bedelia, William Atherton, Reginald VelJohnson, and of course Willis himself. The only missing crewmember is Jon De Bont, who fails to return as the cinematographer.
This makes it even a bigger mystery as to what exactly went wrong here. Renny Harlin is a capable director, producing some great actioners including "Cliffhanger" and the enjoyable creature feature "Deep Blue Sea." The pacing of the film is dull, lifeless, and downright boring at times, an unforgivable mistake in an action film.
Nearly everyone playing an employee of the airport is terrible, including Dennis Franz who's character is beyond aggravating. The few action scenes included don't match up to any of the originals and the special effects produced by ILM are laughable (especially the ejection seat sequence). The only high point is the rather surprising twist towards the end, which definitely comes from left field. This is easily the weakest entry of the series (though a fourth film is pending) and is better off forgotten. (** out of *****)
The 2.35:1 widescreen transfer for "Die Hard 2" is solid and a slight step up from the treatment the first film received. Colors are bolder and black levels are deep. The film uses many bright colors (especially red) and compression issues show through because of it, but it's tolerable. The light grain is only noticeable in a few scenes, but it can be a little distracting. Otherwise, this is a crisp, clean, and clear transfer from a nearly flawless print. (****)
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