A Good Day To Die Hard (Credit: Credit: Frank Masi, SMPSP)
A Good Day To Die Hard (Credit: Credit: Frank Masi, SMPSP)
A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD
RATED R
GRADE C-
The Die Hard series reaches its “nuke the fridge” moment in “A Good Day To Die Hard-” easily the worst entry in the long running franchise.
While in the original and the first two sequels- Willis’ John McClane was just a regular blue-collar guy stuck in a bad situation and improvising his way out of a jam. This film again turns him into an indestructible superman.
It requires a superhuman suspension of disbelief almost from the second Willis steps off the plane in Russia to rescue his estranged son (Jai Courtney).
He’s a CIA agent protecting a whistle-blower from a corrupt Russian politician. The plot is nearly incomprehensible, the one liners are lamer than usual. Willis lazily grumbles “I’m on vacation” about half a dozen times, and director John Moore bathes everything in an ugly gray that makes everything look especially unpleasant.
The movie’s idea of humor is for father and son to have a heart to heart talk in the middle of a firefight, but Courtney has all the charisma of a cement block.
An opening car chase through Moscow is kind of absurdly entertaining it’s all downhill from there.
By the time Willis takes down a helicopter with a truck, gets thrown through a glass window at high speeds, and survives a nuclear explosion at Chernobyl by simply ducking behind a column I was ready to throw in the towel.
It says something when Indiana Jones’ infamous “Nuke The Fridge” moment would stand out as the most plausible element in “A Good Day To Die Hard.”
Of all the 80s action stars still beating up bad guys these days, Willis does look the least embarrassing doing it. But even his seemingly impenetrable smirk can’t protect him from this radioactive crap.
