McLane Lives!

When I first heard that Live Free or Die Hard was going to be PG-13 (or Die Hard 4.0 if you live in the lamest parts of Europe), It was an experience akin to finding out that Santa Clause didn't exist. The first reaction was denial. "There's no way this can be true, how else do the presents magically appear in my living room, and how else will Bruce Willis spit off catchy one-liners without the use of a full arsenal of profanity". Then came anger. At one time I actually said I was going to boycott the movie, as a Die Hard with the same rating as the new Harry Potter to me sounded nothing less than blasphemous. An offense punishable by death. Yet as much as I wanted to hate this movie, the trailers still looked awesome, so my anger then gave way to a guarded sense of optimism. Which led me to the only possible conclusion, and that was going to see it on opening weekend. What can I say, I have a soft spot for Bruce Willis, especially Bruce Willis taking names and blowing things up.

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With all of my PG-13 fears in tow, I went into the theater with low to no expectations what-so-ever. Not even 10 minutes into the movie, Jon McLane grabbed my fears by the throat and beat them repeatedly, albeit more politely than in the past.

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Polite is good word to describe the movie. The action sequences were top notch, right up there with anything from past Die Hard's (the 18 wheeler vs the F-35 was a little much), while the plot was about as deep as With a Vengeance, and made Die Hard 2 look like a Faulkner novel. Jon McLane even felt like Jon McLane, he still cussed like a sailor, only an older sailor who forgot the f-word even existed. There were many instances during the movie where the audio had obviously been edited, and where the death scenes were cut short, which is being polite. Make no mistake about it, there is an R-rated Die Hard in there. Fox is just hiding it from us in order to make a few extra bones at the box-office. Which sucks, but that's Hollywood for you. They generally will take the path of Box Office gross over artistic integrity, and when I say generally, I mean always.

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In the end, Live Free or Die Hard was what it was meant to be. A high-action, fun summer popcorn flick. I hate that the franchise was neutered for this installment to increase the numbers at the Box-Office, it's not fair to the fans. However, solid performances (Justin Long is really good), crazy action, and Bruce Willis made DH4 feel like it belongs beside the other three films. It's just more polite than the others.

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Well, at least until the DVD comes out.

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Yippee-Ky-Yay Mother Fu(Gun Shot!)

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7.5/10