Starring Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant, Mary Elisabeth Winstead and Maggie Q
It makes me feel slightly nauseous to even admit to having nostalgia for the early ‘90s but when you talk about Live Free or Die Hard, you can’t get past it. The belated fourth entry in the Die Hard franchise was, in a year where ‘threequels’ have been heaped upon us, met with some fairly mediocre enthusiasm but that’s not entirely fair. You see, where younger movie franchises have hit their thirty-something flab with their third instalments, Die Hard has gone through that and come out the other side. Live Free or Die Hard is a lean, violent, stripped down engine of a movie and God did we ever need it.
The plot this time owes a fair bit to the likes of 24, following McClane as he’s sent on a routine suspect pick up. The suspect in question, Matt (Long), has just completed a piece of code. What he knows for sure is that he’s been paid a lot off money for it. What he has no idea about is that he’s part of a much larger project and everyone further up the list has been killed the same night their work has been completed. McClane, for his part, just wants to go home, get some sleep and continue his life long quest of stopping his daughter (Winstead, who turns in a frankly miraculous performance with a tiny role) ever having sex with anyone. Ever. Of course, mayhem ensues and of course McClane saves the day. But what follows is something altogether wider ranging and in many ways darker than the previous entries in the series.
Here, the villain (A splendid Olyphant) is a cyber-security specialist whose work was passed over and who now wants his due. His plan is simple; shut everything down. A ‘fire sale’ where utilities and communications are systematically closed off until the country is on its knees. Then, for the right price, he’ll turn everything back on. It’s an interesting idea, echoing Gruber’s cheerful self-interest but mixing it with some very real concerns, backed up by the fact the script was inspired, in part, by ‘A Farewell to Arms’, a 1997 Wired article by John Carlin about the vulnerability of the us to an attack of this type. It’s not exactly a computer science but it doesn’t need or try to be and the sight of John McClane, a traditionally blue collar character dealing with 21st century crime gives the film a welcome and very different twist.
Willis turns in effortlessly good work here, dodging the film’s lower certification to keep McClane as grumpy and long-suffering as he’s ever been. He’s helped by a fantastic supporting cast too, with Long particularly impressive as Matt. There’s a nice secondary arc to his character and his very human reactions to the danger he and McClane are in leads to some of the film’s best moments. Olyphant is a nicely dialled back, plausible villain and Q is a great hench-woman whose barn storming fight with McClane is one of the best action sequences of the year. However, it’s Winstead who steals the show. A fearsome, glowering presence to rival her dad she does vast amounts with barely fifty lines and if there’s a fifth instalment, both she and Long would be welcome returns. Rounded out by a cameo from Kevin Smith, this is one of the best casts the series has ever had and it shows. Similarly, the presence of Len Wiseman of the Underworld movies behind the camera works wonders with some action sequences, in particular the McClane/Q fight and the closing articulated lorry/F22 Raptor battle (Yes you read that correctly) being amongst the best this year.
So, like McClane himself, Live Free or Die Hard confounds all expectations. It’s smart, it’s funny, it’s startlingly violent and is both a return to the high concept, smash mouth action movies of the ‘90s and a surprisingly smart cyber-thriller. John McClane may be having a bad day, but you’ll have a lot of fun watching.
Alasdair started writing when he was nine, powered by a hefty diet of '80s cartoons, Doctor Who and Icepops. He's quite tired by this stage but has written a lot of things for a lot of people, including Fortean Times, Neo and Surreal.