Die Hard 4.0 (Live Free or Die Hard)
2007. Directed by Len Wiseman. Starring Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long.
Has John Maclane given up smoking? His language certainly seems to have improved. All in the interests of gaining a more general censorship certificate.
I have no doubt that for a long time I shall be boring my numerically challenged readership to death with my complaints about the smoking ban. I believe the more positive term is ‘the creation of smoke-free areas’. As I say, the smoking ban.
Despite the weather and Wimbledon, it seems to be the only topic of conversation at bus queues and in the pub. Smokers moaning and ranting, non-smokers crowing, apart from the ones who try to be ‘reasonable’, no doubt realising there are more threats to their health than smoking.
I was reprimanded for smoking in the pub yesterday. I quite innocently lit up while reading the paper and it was when I was looking round for an ashtray that the manager pointed out my misdemeanour. My companions, of course, had said never a word, just looked on with amusement and waited to see what happened.
I went to see Die Hard 4.0 (Live Free or Die Hard) yesterday. It’s a good thing Bruce didn’t need his lighter to set off a petrol trail to take a plane out of the sky. In this film, instead, he takes out a helicopter and an F35 by much more elaborate means.
And that’s one of the differences between this latest episode and the early ones. The stunts are more spectacular and very obviously CGI’d and therefore less believable. Now, I’m not saying that Die Hard I and II were models of realism. But you could just about buy the heroic exploits and hair-raising escapes, especially since the whole thing was acted, edited and shot to keep you hooked.
The first two used the formula of a fixed, confined location, admittedly a big one. DH III and IV go on the road. In this one, we seem to go over the whole eastern seaboard, as if by teletransportation.
Maybe the thought is that the central character is what made the earlier film work so well. The tough, dogged, self-deprecating, inventive everyman with whom we can just about identify. Now he’s superman without the underpants. That’s why, I suppose, Bruce has to deliver a self-pitying speech about the downside of being a hero.
And we have to believe in DH IV that there are computer geeks out there whose skills are also superhuman. Is that reflecting the prevailing paranoia? Or am I just ignorant and complacent?
It seems very difficult to kill people in this movie, even the minor villains, who are incredibly skilled in kung fu and acrobatics. But when it comes to the deaths of innocent civilians, the film cheats a bit. Hundreds of cars are totalled, but we are spared the human tragedy. In DH II the plane crash engineered by the villain is preceded by scenes with the passengers which serve to humanise the tragedy.
As in DH III Maclane is provided with a partner, another departure from the original formula. Again, it weakens the central character. Part of his charm, if that’s the right word, is his technophobia and his down-to-earth physical approach to the overwhelming sophistication of his opponents. Here he needs the computer expertise of his nerdy companion. I know it’s necessary for the plot, but in that case it’s the wrong plot.
But it was a lot of fun.
Despite the weather and Wimbledon, it seems to be the only topic of conversation at bus queues and in the pub. Smokers moaning and ranting, non-smokers crowing, apart from the ones who try to be ‘reasonable’, no doubt realising there are more threats to their health than smoking.
I was reprimanded for smoking in the pub yesterday. I quite innocently lit up while reading the paper and it was when I was looking round for an ashtray that the manager pointed out my misdemeanour. My companions, of course, had said never a word, just looked on with amusement and waited to see what happened.
I went to see Die Hard 4.0 (Live Free or Die Hard) yesterday. It’s a good thing Bruce didn’t need his lighter to set off a petrol trail to take a plane out of the sky. In this film, instead, he takes out a helicopter and an F35 by much more elaborate means.
And that’s one of the differences between this latest episode and the early ones. The stunts are more spectacular and very obviously CGI’d and therefore less believable. Now, I’m not saying that Die Hard I and II were models of realism. But you could just about buy the heroic exploits and hair-raising escapes, especially since the whole thing was acted, edited and shot to keep you hooked.
The first two used the formula of a fixed, confined location, admittedly a big one. DH III and IV go on the road. In this one, we seem to go over the whole eastern seaboard, as if by teletransportation.
Maybe the thought is that the central character is what made the earlier film work so well. The tough, dogged, self-deprecating, inventive everyman with whom we can just about identify. Now he’s superman without the underpants. That’s why, I suppose, Bruce has to deliver a self-pitying speech about the downside of being a hero.
And we have to believe in DH IV that there are computer geeks out there whose skills are also superhuman. Is that reflecting the prevailing paranoia? Or am I just ignorant and complacent?
It seems very difficult to kill people in this movie, even the minor villains, who are incredibly skilled in kung fu and acrobatics. But when it comes to the deaths of innocent civilians, the film cheats a bit. Hundreds of cars are totalled, but we are spared the human tragedy. In DH II the plane crash engineered by the villain is preceded by scenes with the passengers which serve to humanise the tragedy.
As in DH III Maclane is provided with a partner, another departure from the original formula. Again, it weakens the central character. Part of his charm, if that’s the right word, is his technophobia and his down-to-earth physical approach to the overwhelming sophistication of his opponents. Here he needs the computer expertise of his nerdy companion. I know it’s necessary for the plot, but in that case it’s the wrong plot.
But it was a lot of fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment