Josh Wilding Reviews: A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD
A Good Day To Die Hard is out now in US and UK theatres, but is it really as bad as everyone has been saying?! Well, just be grateful that I've watched it so that you don't have to! Hit the jump for my spoiler-free verdict!
I would normally kick off a review such as this one with a brief summary of the plot, but the problem in this instance is that A Good Day To Die Hard simply doesn't have much of one! The entire film essentially feels like an extended version of the theatrical trailer. There isn't really a beginning, middle or end (at least not structurally) and what plot there IS is neither particularly interesting or original. Of course, we have screenwriter Skip Woods to thank for that. This is the same hack responsible for Hitman, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The A-Team, so perhaps it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that his involvement pretty much doomed A Good Day To Die Hard from the start. There were at least a few entertaining one-liners though!
However, the saving grace is the action, even though an awful lot of it has been done better elsewhere (the Bourne franchise for example). Scenes such as the chase sequence in Moscow are well-directed by John Moore, but butchered in the editing room. To make matters worse, too much of A Good Day To Die Hard is laughably far-fetched, although undeniably fun for the most part. You see, despite its many, many flaws, there's no denying that the shoot-out's and insanely ridiculous and explosive finale are all extremely entertaining.
In terms of performances, it's not easy to single anyone out when they're working off such a terrible screenplay, but Jack Reacher's Jai Courtney (Jack McClane) once again shows himself to be one of Hollywood's most impressive new talents. A Good Day To Die Hard feels like HIS movie far more than it does Bruce Willis'. The senior John McClane phones it in in what is clearly just an easy pay day for him. That's not to say his performance is bad per se, but this movie could - and arguably should - act as a passing of the torch. As for the rest of the cast, I'm afraid to say that there really isn't anyone else worth mentioning! All in all, while the score below is indicative of the quality of the film, it really isn't as bad as some other reviews have made out!
Fun, frantic and completely forgettable, A Good Day To Die Hard is the final nail in the coffin of a tired franchise...until the next one that is.
Iconoclastic, take-no-prisoners cop John McClane, for the first time, finds himself on foreign soil after traveling to Moscow to help his wayward son Jack – unaware that Jack is really a highly-trained CIA operative out to stop a nuclear weapons heist. With the Russian underworld in pursuit, and battling a countdown to war, the two McClanes discover that their opposing methods make them unstoppable heroes.
STARRING:
Bruce Willis as John McClane
Jai Courtney as John "Jack" McClane, Jr.
Cole Hauser as Collins
Sebastian Koch as Komorov
Yuliya Snigir as Irina
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lucy McClane
RELEASE DATE: Out Now!