Yipee Kiy-Yay *BEEP* (Die Hard 4.0 (DVD))

Name: hollerme

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Product:	Die Hard 4.0 (DVD)
Date:	02/07/07 (85 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great action, good performances

Disadvantages: Took away a lot of what made the previous films work, lousy script

He's been trapped in a skyscraper, he's been trapped in an airport, he's been trapped in the city, now McClane is... no longer trapped. Great.

Yes, Die Hard 4.0 (or Live Free Or Die Hard in the States) marks the return of John McClane, the only alpha male to roam the Summer this year. But though McClane is back, everything that you associated with Die Hard is gone.

Yipee Kiy-yay mo... is arguably one of the greatest lines in movies and is so iconic that bus posters simply said: Yipee Kiy-yay mo -- John 07/04/07

It didn't show Willis' face, it didn't give the name of the film, it was simply that quote. Yet everyone knew what movie they were advertising.

So you would expect this line to be used in this film like they did with all the others. Not so. Due to studio interference wanting to keep the rating down (and the MPAA feeling that bad language is the most dangerous weapon of all) only half that line was used. Guess which half...

Another thing about the Die Hard movies that people never mention is that the people in higher parts of the government (FBI, etc.) either interfere and unwittingly aid the bad guys or are plain bad themselves, and the only good people in this trilogy are the working class people; cops, etc. who must against all insurmountable odds stop the bad guys from succeeding in their money-loving goals. That has also been destroyed as Homeland Security which every American hates in real life, are trying desperately to prevent another terrorist attack from happening.

And moving onto terrorists, Die Hard thankfully has not changed and pitted McClane against Al Qaeda (the previous Die Hard movies never had McClane against who America was currently fighting against but instead East Europeans or home-grown Americans) but rather against computer hackers who have shut down everything electronic in America from CCTV to traffic lights. They're slightly nerdish but they're not hesitant to kill, so thankfully the danger meter is high.

The lead terrorists are Timothy Olyphant and kung-fu beauty Maggie Q who are both great in their roles (Olyphant is a threatening genius, Q is a sexy psycho) with Q's seemingly indestructible character making you scream "WHY WON'T YOU DIE????" Yet you can't help but compare them to Alan Rickman or Jeremy Irons who were far more dangerous, far cleverer, and far more fleshed out but I blame this more on the lack of good script than on the acting itself. Another problem is the lack fo characterization for the other villains to the point that we don't know any of their names and they appear to be there to up the body count. While the first Die Hard movie had a scene where McClane actually bothered to take down their names and each villain had something witty to say, in this film the villains simply grunt and shoot. Even the nerdy evil computer hacker in this film is extremely bland in comparison to the evil computer hacker in the first film.

The script appears to have been written with the thoughts of the action scenes rather than plot, and while the plot is thin the action is astounding with the highlights being a car chase involving a helicopter and other vehicles flipping over (you've seen it in the trailer) and a truck versus a fighter jet. It's epic-style action and perfectly executed so that every money shot can be seen in all its glory.

Willis has recently moved onto John Wayne-style dry characters so it is a welcome return to see him playing the disgruntled man with cynical humour, and though his one-liners aren't great (compare Die Hard's "Thanks for the advice" to this film's "That's gonna wake the neighbours" and you'll see what I mean) they're still fun to listen to.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Lucy McClane, the daughter of our vested hero, and though she isn't in many scenes she is still great in them, making her character seem real with some of her on-screen father's qualities.

Justin Long plays the good computer hacker and sidekick to Willis' action man, and is extremely good and a lot of fun in his role. A talented comic actor (Dodgeball, Waiting...) who can actually do more dramatic acting (Jeepers Creepers), Long has proven that he may have a long career ahead of him. He also manages to steal the show from Willis with his hilarious lines which is a very rare feat.

The director, Len Wiseman, has also managed to do a decent job here with his action scenes being the most stand-out. Surprising, though, especially when he made the atrocious Underworld movies which have badly executed action scenes, bad scripts, bad acting, bad EVERYTHING, and which you would not expect came from the man who has made this decent Die Hard movie. Perhaps not as good as any of McTiernan's films, it at least is better than number 2 and deserves to stand as an excellent summer action movie.

Worth the price of admission, I'm going to see it again on Friday.

Check it out.

Summary: Watch it for the action and nothing else.