McClane has been sent to escort Matt Farrell (Justin Long, as one of the aforementioned hackers) to Washington D.C. for questioning. Why an NYPD detective is being sent to New Jersey to do this begins the string of unanswerable questions, so make a list if you like, but it really doesn’t matter. McClane barely gets the kid out of the apartment alive after a battle with some killers sent to take him out. Yes, McClane is showing his age and then some, but he still has the ability to take on the bad guys (some obviously half his age).
Of course, trying to duplicate the tension and anxiety that built in the first film is no longer possible. What happened then was unique: McClane in his bare feet and undershirt, battling a group of terrorists single-handledly while trapped inside a skyscraper. It was a lovely cat-and-mouse game, pitting Willis against an incomparable Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber. There was a wit and sensitivity in that film that has been lacking in the rest, and also the undercurrent of humor is notably missing, especially in this fourth installment.
One may recall that even the terrorists were humorous in Die Hard (remember the Asian terrorist looking both ways before stealing a candy bar and then eating it as he shot at some cops?). In particular, McClane was sarcastic, witty, and more than an intellectual match for Rickman’s seemingly sophisticated and superior Gruber. That was the beauty of the first film, and its climax still stands as one of the best I’ve seen, creating that iconic line of dialogue, “Yippee ki yay, mother^%$#*$” that has managed its way into the ending of the other films.
By the time McClane and Farrell get to Washington, everything is a mess. The traffic lights aren’t working, the Internet is done, the terrorists control all TV networks, and even the fries at McDonald’s are messed up. McClane gets little help from the FBI, but he does get support, and that’s another thing that is notably missing here. Especially in the first film, McClane was not only pitted against the terrorists, for even the cops and the FBI were unappreciative of his efforts inside the skyscraper. Just as Jack Bauer of 24 works best when he is on his own and being chased by good and bad guys, John McClane should be as he described himself best in the first film: “A monkey in the wrench, a fly in the ointment, a pain in the ass.”
Article comments
1 - Blank Czech
Great Movie! A breath of fresh air in the dying movie industry. Even though Bruce is getting older than dirt, he's still one hell of an actor.
2 - Victor Lana
Yes, you're absolutely right. THe key point here is how Willis can carry a film. He's a presence and I don't know many youngerr actors about whom I can say the same thing (except, perhaps, Kiefer Sutherland).