Monday, February 11, 2013

Movie Review: Die Hard 2 - Die Harder


Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Action, story doesn't feel recycled from first one
Cons: Holly's sub-plot, weaker villain
The Bottom Line
Not quite the first film
Still entertaining action
From start to finish




"Where's Your ID?"  "On It's Way to Cleveland?"

Since I enjoyed Die Hard when I saw it a few months back, I took advantage of a recent chance to watch the sequel Die Hard 2 - Die Harder.  Despite the unoriginal name, the movie does a good job of taking the same characters and putting them in another suspenseful situation that doesn't feel too much like a retread.

It’s just before Christmas, and John McClane (Bruce Willis) is in Washington DC for the holiday.  He headed there a few days early with his kids, and now he’s returned to Dulles to pick up his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) whose plane is a little late.

While he’s waiting, he sees some men behaving strangely.  He follows them and gets shot at for his efforts.  But trying to convince Captain Lorenzo (Dennis Franz) of the airport police that something sinister is going on is all but impossible.

That is until the terrorists take over the airport.  They control all the electronics and will keep all the planes in the air circling until their demands are met.  They want a deposed president who has been arrested under the War on Drugs to be freed.  But McClane is not going to let that happen without a fight.  Will he be able to stop them before his wife’s plane runs out of fuel?

As with the first movie, this one follows a pretty basic action movie formula.  I’m not saying that isn’t entertaining, but it also means I’m not quite on the edge of my seat for some of the action scenes.  Others have me glued to the screen.  Go figure.

I am actually impressed that they found a way to recreate the basics of the first movie so it familiar enough to be a sequel without it feeling like they are just rehashing the same things.  What do I mean?  McClane is trying to rescue his wife from terrorists, but the terrorists want different things and the danger she is in is completely different.

Another sign of that is that only four of the characters from the first movie made it back.  Even at that, Reginald VelJohnson’s LA police officer Al Powell is basically reduced to a well-used cameo.  He provides some useful information, but they didn’t try to drag him into the action across the country any more than that.  Playing a bigger part is William Atherton’s reporter Richard Thornburg.  He’s just as big a pain as he was in the first movie, although there are more laughs at his expense.  Honestly, I’m wondering why he is there other than to give Holly something to do besides wait patiently in the plane.  Really, their sub-plot is pretty much pointless and leads to one of the most nonsensical scenes of the movie.

Another strike against this film is the villain.  William Sadler’s Colonel Stuart is evil, and he shows it, but he doesn’t feel as well defined as the villain in the first movie.  Still, it’s easy to root for him to lose.

I was surprised at some of the people who showed up in supporting roles.  We’ve got Fred Thompson as the head of the communications area of the airport and Star Trek: Deep Space 9’s Colm Meaney as a pilot of a plane stuck in the air.  John Amos is also here as an army major brought in to fight against the terrorists.  Needless to say, the entire cast is great in their parts.  While some of the characters could have been stronger, that’s more in the writing than the acting.

While I did say earlier that the action scenes didn’t quite have me on the edge of my seat, that’s not to say the action isn’t good.  As you’d expect, there are lots of great stunts.

Released in 1990, elements of the film are a little dated – mainly hair and clothing styles.  The special effects are not dated, and I believed everything I saw on the screen.

Like the first movie, this one earns its R rating from plenty of foul language and violence.  This isn't a kid's movie, but adults should enjoy it.

No, Die Hard 2 - Die Harder doesn’t quite live up to the original.  But it is a worthy sequel will keep you entertained.

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