Willis seems to have more control over the director decisions having hand-picked Len Wiseman for Live Free and bringing on John Moore for A Good Day. While I never had faith in either of them — I can’t stand Wiseman’s Underworld series and Moore seemed content with his continually bland brand of action (see Max Payne, Flight of the Phoenix, Behind Enemy Lines, and the abysmal Omen remake) — both have proven more than adequate in the ways of Dying Hard. The series sees even more changes this time around with less of the original Michael Kamen musical cues and the scope ratio altered down too. The storyline is pretty flimsy this time and the film relies so heavily on the father/son dynamic that it should have been released on Father’s Day weekend.
Thankfully, writer Skip Woods (also unknown for great action films: The A-Team, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Hitman, Swordfish) knows how to string along the action and like I said before, that’s why we came in the first place. The film’s sense of fun keeps the pacing chugging along, even if there are some lulls here and there which is really surprising considering this is the shortest Die Hard yet at a mere 97 minutes. Courtney holds his own as McClane Jr. and I won’t be surprised to see him back with Willis already letting on that a sixth installment is under way. If the next one isn’t called Old Habits Die Hard what else could they possibly call it? While the action gods may be back in full force this year (Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone both have already failed at the box office), leave it to McClane to make any day A Good Day to Die Hard.
Photos courtesy Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
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