DIE HARD 4.0 (2007, USA/UK, 128m, 15) **½
Action, Crime, Thriller
dist. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; pr co. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation / Dune Entertainment / Ingenious Film Partners / Cheyenne Enterprises / Wintergreen Productions; d. Len Wiseman; w. Mark Bomback (based on a story by Mark Bomback and David Marconithe, the article ‘A Farewell to Arms’ by John Carlin and characters created by Roderick Thorp); pr. Michael Fottrell, Stephen J. Eads; ph. Simon Duggan (DeLuxe | 2.35:1); m. Marco Beltrami; ed. Nicolas De Toth; pd. Patrick Tatopoulos; ad. Troy Sizemore.
cast: Bruce Willis (John McClane), Timothy Olyphant (Thomas Gabriel), Justin Long (Matt Farrell), Maggie Q (Mai), Cliff Curtis (Bowman), Jonathan Sadowski (Trey), Andrew Friedman (Casper), Kevin Smith (Warlock), Yorgo Constantine (Russo), Cyril Raffaelli (Rand), Chris Palermo (Del), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Lucy), Sung Kang (Raj), Zeljko Ivanek (Molina), Christina Chang (Taylor), Jake McDorman (Jim), Rosemary Knower (Mrs. Kaludis), Gerald Downey (Hoover Agent), Allen Maldonado (Goatee), Jim Cantafio (Deli Owner).
This preposterous third sequel sees the nation preparing to celebrate Independence Day, with veteran cop John McClane (Willis) carrying out another routine assignment: bringing in a computer hacker (Long) for questioning. Meanwhile, a tech-savvy villain named Thomas Gabriel (Olyphant) launches an attack on America’s computer infrastructure. As chaos descends around him, McClane must use old-fashioned methods to fight the high-tech threat. This action-packed exercise in destruction is an assault on the senses, so much so it nullifies any tension or suggested threat. Instead, it offers a densely technical plot, which will leave many cold, and fails to pause for breath or offer anything in the way of characterisation. The script merely joins the dots between the frenetically edited action set pieces and Willis is drowned out by the surrounding explosions and violence. Original US title: LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD. Followed by A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (2013).
