Live Free or Die Hard: Review

In all honesty, of the summer blockbusters scheduled for release this summer, Live Free or Die Hard resided fairly low on my list of must sees, not due to a lack of interest in the series previous installments but more out of a fear that the franchise would be a rusty and stale shell of its former self. Thankfully, my fears could not have been more off base as Len Wiseman (a name that would normally strike fear into the heart of any self respecting film fan) has crafted a rip roaring stunner. LFoDH is every bit as intense as the initial installment and while its script lacks some of the zing of that action classic, the action sequences top almost anything the series has seen before and places the fourth film closely in quality to McTiernan's Die Hard.

All discussion of the Die Hard films must inevitably start and end with it's star, Bruce Willis, as the films really serve as a well tailored vehicle to his strengths. His now legendary character of John McClane entered our collective national consciousness in the late 80's and doubters be damned, has stayed around long enough to now be close to entering his third decade of cinematic glory. His everyman persona, is an easy entry into the series increasingly absurd and illogical plots that serve as only the thinnest of strings to tie together their ever effective set pieces. In this fourth chapter, Willis plays McClane as the aging cop he should be viewed as, one who is slightly out of touch with technology and the more advanced threats facing our nation today. Gone are the hard body days of the Reagan 80's, replaced with a world weary, disenchanted, conservative cop who resents his initial assignment of tracking down a youthful computer hacker following a computer breach at a government agency. It is this simple trip to a dirty, soda filled apartment in Camden, NJ that starts McClane's very bad day that will take him from Jersey to DC to West Virginia to Maryland in a short 36 hour (or so) span.


Willis is in fine form here, an action star who knows the value of a sharp one liner following an intense action sequence. McClane is effectively played off of Justin Long's Matt Farrell, the aforementioned hacker McClane is supposed to round up. Long fits the computer geek mold to a T and between this and the Mac Ad Campaign featuring Mac vs. PC, he is in genuine danger of being type casted for the rest of his career. Luckily, he is completely capable, handling the material with ease. Timothy Olyphant, as the film's villain Thomas Gabriel, moves gracefully from HBO's brilliant Deadwood to the big screen. His character, a super hacker who launches an electronic attack against America's infrastructure (he messes with the electricity, traffic lights and television stations, causing what can be described as sheer chaos), joins Hans Gruber as McClane's evil counterparts. The rest of the cast, particularly Mary Elizabeth Winstead who has the looks and charisma to be a star in the making, works well in the context of the material and wisely just keep the action moving.

The true stars of the film are the huge cast of stuntmen and women who risk it all in a number of jaw dropping stunt sequences. Unlike too many of today's large scale summer blockbusters, LFoDH harkens back to the films of the late 70's and early 80's, where stunts and on set explosions were still the preferred action tools. In fact, with the exception of the climatic F-35 and 18 wheeler chase scene, it seems as if almost all the other main set pieces are primarily actual stunt work as opposed to blue and green screen trickery. As a result, the sequences pack a hard edged visceral impact that bash the audience into submission. Almost every second is invigorating (in the same way that M:I 3 was last summer) and by film's end, the audience is left energized and ready to take on the world. The pacing is spot on, with just enough exposition between each set piece to keep the story moving but it is never too much. The main draw here is the action and Wiseman smartly works quickly to get from one to the next.

It is interesting to note that these films, like most actioners, thrive in times that are resoundingly conservative. Like the hard body films of the 80's that celebrated a go-get 'em approach towards rooting out communists and the like, LFoDH possesses a similar psyche of those earlier films. However, gone are the days with the nuclear weapon wielding commies, replaced with images of technologically informed terrorists. Granted, the villains in LFoDH hold no ethnic or racial connection to the stereotypical enemies of America (and for that, we should be thankful) but their ideas are resoundingly similar. It is noteworthy to see a film like LFoDH, a work that one could easily imagine George W. Bush idolizing and replaying next to 300 as a great rallying cry in the halls of the West Wing, perform so well at the box office despite the publics seemingly overwhelming disapproval of Bush's work in the White House. While the country rails against Bush and his war (myself included), they are going to and supporting a film that holds an ideology not far removed from our current administration. Not only are there high attendance numbers but high approval ones as well (the film currently sits with an 8.1/10 rating on IMDB.com after nearly 25,000 votes). I'm not sure what to make of it, but it is certainly an interesting trend

That being said, this is, so far, the best pure actioner of the summer, an old fashioned romp that is too often not made today. It isn't the smartest film but its visceral impact is so strong that it more than makes up for its intellectual inadequacies. LFoDH is a pop confection in the best sense, a film that will be enjoyed but will lend some sort of lasting image. It has moments that will undoubtedly stick in its viewer's gut but never feel terribly weighty. It is a perfect summer diversion that is one more pleasant surprise that can be chalked up to a season that has already been abound with them.

****