A Good Day to Die Hard

This time he brought you a Mercedes... The only thing that didn’t drop in quality was Beltrami’s music. Otherwise, this is like falling painfully on your face. For me, this isn’t another episode of that excellent series that I grew up on. I’m not treating it as one of them, so that I can be at least a little objective. I don’t like Moore, he already ruined Max Payne and he isn’t much good at making movies. Here at least he tries to push the action to the forefront (I have to admit that there really is a lot of it) because any switch to “father and son talking" equals catastrophe. I would be surprised if Skip Woods’ screenplay was any more than five pages long, it’s completely off any qualitative scale. It has some sort of story, but too few snappy lines and hogwash about the holidays soon gets boring. Bruce doesn’t give a damn about anything and he seemed to me to be overacting. And what else can he do, it’s a parody on Die Hard after all! I’m not going to have a dig at the illogicality of individual scenes, but several times I had a really surprised look on my face. Especially on the trip to Chernobyl. That reminds me of the days when I used to watch Seagal movies with my dad (e.g. Under Siege 2) and he always went on about what a pile of baloney it was, that it didn’t make any sense. Who on earth thought up such a load of tripe? Well, now I’m following in my dad’s footsteps. Wanna cuddle? (17/03/2013)

The fact that Skip Woods suffers from screenwriting elephantiasis, and that anyone with a heightened sensitivity to moronic dialogue and story in general will probably get cancer while watching the new McLane escapades is unfortunately pretty much covered up by the fact that, from a directorial standpoint, this bullshit is surprisingly innovative and masterful. In fact, the alpha and omega of AGDtDH is that 20 or so minute car chase in downtown Moscow, where all the trump cards are laid out and, in fact, justify the entire existence of this film. The authenticity of the clashes here is aided by the multiple shots of the same situations from different angles, as well as the editing, which cuts away from the collision that the next shot records from somewhere else. Imho, it was purely deliberate that one of the shots ends at an angle where we see a crew member in a helmet along the right edge, controlling the vehicle on which the camera is placed. Combined with the senseless (but impressive) destructiveness of the entire scene, this makes every impact doubly felt and almost brings back that good old feeling of crossing your fingers for the stuntman, wishing him a speedy recovery. Moreover, the armored transport starring in this scene is actually the link between the chase scenes in Terminator 3 (a slow, multi-ton, virtually indestructible crane) with those in The Bourne Supremacy (fast, punchy, unconcerned with consequences), thanks to its destructive potential and not inconsiderable speed. In fact, everything before and partly after – the camera, for example, hiding fearfully behind a car during a gunfight, the shooting of situations from inside passing cars, the escape on the roof that we see from an aerial shot and hear only the echoes of gunfire – are the viewer's preparation for this scene. ________ Yeah, but otherwise it's really terrible crap, which in places defies the very basic creative precepts ("The whole room is contaminated with radiation" "Don't worry, luckily we have a secret substance with us 24/7 that will get rid of the radiation" – no kidding!) and the characters work about the same as in the snuff videos. McLane isn't in this movie, but I think he'd like it on TV. (19/06/2013)

A crazy day to die hard. When writing this script, Skip Woods occasionally forgot that he was writing another installment of an established series and often broke its established rules – unfortunately, including the traditional showdown with the villain. However, even so, I mostly enjoyed it in spite of myself. Because right from his first glance, Bruce Willis proves that he has missed his iconic role and relishes every shot or argument with the senator. Besides, John Moore, no matter how many flaws he has, simply knows how to handle action; he just needed a little push. I understand that McClane's adventure shouldn't focus on family values, but currently, the universal reactionism really disappoints me. That's why I will add an almost invisible plus to the solid 70 percent. But I want the sixth installment to be more personal in a completely different way. (31/05/2013)

A bad director and a bad screenplay can turn even a good series into a disaster. What's the problem? Well, actually, it's probably everything. It doesn't work from start to finish, unfortunately even from the side of the cast. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/07/smrtonosna-past-opet-v-akci-2013-30.html (31/07/2013)

McClane's back, say and write what you want. It's still him. Yes, the reconciliation between father and son is hellish and we've seen it many times and better (Indiana Jones IV), but is that what A Good Day to Die Hard is all about? Don't be discouraged by the generally low rating and go see for yourself. What I saw was a pretty honest action movie that I perhaps enjoyed more than the second Expendables (but less than The Last Stand). Imaginative action scenes (the car chase, the helicopter ending, which is better than the fighter jet ending from the last film and is a typical McClane yippee-ki-yay improvisational moment), Beltrami's music, the visual effects, the jokes, of which there were more than I would have expected ("Need a hug"), the charismatic Sebastian Koch, references to the first film in the series (Beethoven, the villain's slow motion fall)... No problems at all. However, Jai Courtney really got on my nerves, and it seems that somebody also hurt the film badly in the editing room, as many scenes from the trailer didn't make it in (especially the taxi dialogue with the cop/lawyer makes me sad). I wish there was a longer version on DVD. Three and a half red stars.__P.S. The longer version was only released on BD, so I'll probably never see it. (23/03/2013)