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By Rob. Walton
An outfit of high-tech "virtual terrorists" has hijacked the government's computer networks and is wreaking havoc on the U.S. infrastructure, from traffic lights to Homeland Security. Old-school, wisecracking New York City cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) is drafted by the D.C. authorities to transport young New Jersey computer programmer Matt Farrell (Justin Long of so many Mac commercials) to the Feds in D.C. where the boy can be questioned before a team of heavily armed French assassins can take him out.
On their journey to the besieged capital -- (didn't Willis just do this with Mos Def in 16 Blocks?) -- brawny John and brainy Matt dodge bullets and trade insults. John is a burly bald dinosaur who listens to Creedence on his car radio, while Matt is a pallid Gen-Y computer jockey who chugs energy drinks, collects action figures and writes morphing code. The chemistry of Willis' cocksure wit against Long's stuttering cynicism works nicely, serving up enough clever one-liners to warrant later dorm-room or barroom recitations. But it's the over-the-top action that distinguishes Live Free or Die Hard from the current crop of special effects flicks. This ten-ton stunt movie is often reminiscent of the first Jurassic Park, with its seamless special effects and spectacular attention to technical details that gives the movie a thrilling you-are-there point of view. A steel-crushing automobile pile-up in a D.C. tunnel and a scrappy brawl in an upended SUV as it tumbles down an elevator shaft are both particularly memorable.
The original Die Hard, with its wry dialogue, well-defined boundaries and a ticking clock, is arguably the contemporary action movie by which all followers should be compared. Live Free or Die Hard may not be so structurally tidy -- a few gaps in the story are actually unforgivable -- and its villain (Deadwood's suave Timothy Olyphant) suffers in comparison to the ice-cold Alan Rickman. But the lead bad guy here lets his henchmen (and henchwoman) do the heavy lifting. Relentless French assassin Rand (District B13's gravity-defying Cyril Raffaelli) -- dubbed a hamster by John McClane -- calls to mind the best acrobatic work of Jackie Chan and Tony Ja as he bounds walls and scales buildings like he leapt out of a videogame. Lethal and lithe Maggie Q (Mission: Impossible III) is particularly fierce as the crew's hard-kicking, bone-breaking "technical support." Like this movie franchise's hero, the set-pieces get a little too cocky and over the top in the final half hour, but you'll be hard-pressed to find an action flick that packs a better punch than this explosive crowd-pleaser.
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