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
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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