Review: A Good Day To Die Hard
I have never witnessed the death of something.
Until now.
Ladies and gentlemen, the beloved Die Hard franchise has been destroyed like Nakatomi Plaza.
The Die Hard films have always been made with good production value and a tinge of comedy, despite being known for its explosions and macho appeal.
This time around, however, its formula has failed.
A Good Day To Die Hard is dreadful.
The script is dreadful.
The plot is dreadful.
The sound effects (how on earth do you screw that up?) are dreadful.
It leaves the viewer pondering the question: "What did they spend their $92 million dollars on?" By all accounts, it's predescessor, 2007′s Live Free Or Die Hard, should have been terrible.
But by some miracle, it was a fantastic return for the franchise after the series' 12-year hiatus.
It had bigger explosions, crazier stunts and, along with Casino Royale (2006) and The Bourne Series, helped usher in a new wave of action movies in which lead characters can literally do anything, no matter how preposterous.
It just has to be executed in style.
So when a followup to the highest grossing film in a veritable franchise is announced, people get a little excited.
And when it turns out to be a giant turd, people get a little distraught.
The entire film is only 97 minutes long.
That would normally be okay, except about half of that is spent in awkward stares and mumbling of pointless dialogue, most of which feels like a time-stretcher.
Early on, we are given a fantastically uncomfortable 3-minute scene featuring McClane and a Russian cab driver singing Sinatra's "New York, New York.
" At three different points in the film, McClane angrily shouts: "I'm on vacation!" just as he begins to open fire on a crowd of Russian baddies.
He was never really "on vacation" in the first place - he's in Russia for his son's trial.
But to nitpick at the script is to say there actually was a script to begin with, and at this point I'm beginning to think Skip Woods was either comatose or lobotomized when he smashed his fingers on a keyboard to write this dialogue.
The rest of the movie is shrouded in long, drawn-out, poorly-shot action sequences.
Sporadic, jittery camera movement, and terrible sound editing are the killers here.
At one point, McClane punches someone in the face and the sound effect used is reminiscent of an old kung-fu movie.
I guess the foley artist was sick that day.
At other times, the car crashes are shot from so far away, that without the added sound effects, they would seem like toy automobiles to the viewer.
It's almost like the filmmakers were playing a joke on us.
I'm not sure I get the punchline.
There's really too much wrong with this film to go into all of it.
A Good Day To Die Hard is the film that Live Free Or Die Hard should have been, but we had to go and get our hopes up, and dashed.
Goodbye Die Hard franchise.
In the words of the book on which the original is based: "Nothing Lasts Forever.
" Now, where's my copy of Die Hard (1988)? I need to get this bad taste out of my mouth.
Until now.
Ladies and gentlemen, the beloved Die Hard franchise has been destroyed like Nakatomi Plaza.
The Die Hard films have always been made with good production value and a tinge of comedy, despite being known for its explosions and macho appeal.
This time around, however, its formula has failed.
A Good Day To Die Hard is dreadful.
The script is dreadful.
The plot is dreadful.
The sound effects (how on earth do you screw that up?) are dreadful.
It leaves the viewer pondering the question: "What did they spend their $92 million dollars on?" By all accounts, it's predescessor, 2007′s Live Free Or Die Hard, should have been terrible.
But by some miracle, it was a fantastic return for the franchise after the series' 12-year hiatus.
It had bigger explosions, crazier stunts and, along with Casino Royale (2006) and The Bourne Series, helped usher in a new wave of action movies in which lead characters can literally do anything, no matter how preposterous.
It just has to be executed in style.
So when a followup to the highest grossing film in a veritable franchise is announced, people get a little excited.
And when it turns out to be a giant turd, people get a little distraught.
The entire film is only 97 minutes long.
That would normally be okay, except about half of that is spent in awkward stares and mumbling of pointless dialogue, most of which feels like a time-stretcher.
Early on, we are given a fantastically uncomfortable 3-minute scene featuring McClane and a Russian cab driver singing Sinatra's "New York, New York.
" At three different points in the film, McClane angrily shouts: "I'm on vacation!" just as he begins to open fire on a crowd of Russian baddies.
He was never really "on vacation" in the first place - he's in Russia for his son's trial.
But to nitpick at the script is to say there actually was a script to begin with, and at this point I'm beginning to think Skip Woods was either comatose or lobotomized when he smashed his fingers on a keyboard to write this dialogue.
The rest of the movie is shrouded in long, drawn-out, poorly-shot action sequences.
Sporadic, jittery camera movement, and terrible sound editing are the killers here.
At one point, McClane punches someone in the face and the sound effect used is reminiscent of an old kung-fu movie.
I guess the foley artist was sick that day.
At other times, the car crashes are shot from so far away, that without the added sound effects, they would seem like toy automobiles to the viewer.
It's almost like the filmmakers were playing a joke on us.
I'm not sure I get the punchline.
There's really too much wrong with this film to go into all of it.
A Good Day To Die Hard is the film that Live Free Or Die Hard should have been, but we had to go and get our hopes up, and dashed.
Goodbye Die Hard franchise.
In the words of the book on which the original is based: "Nothing Lasts Forever.
" Now, where's my copy of Die Hard (1988)? I need to get this bad taste out of my mouth.
Source...