Die Hard With A Vengeance

Staring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L Jackson

Review by The Ranting WolfCastle

    I know, I know...sequels suck.  Die Hard was just about the best action movie made, Die Hard 2 wasn't very good, but it's been a while so I don't remember clearly.  But I really enjoy the third.  I might even say I enjoy it more than the original, but that may just be because I've seen the first so many times.

    Bruce Willis (Pulp Fiction, Armageddon) is back as John McClain.  Someone has taken New York City hostage by means of a few bombs, and it turns out that that someone is the deranged brother of Hans Gruber, the terrorist from the first movie.  He wants to play a little game with McClain (Simon Says) to avenge the death of his brother.  But those damn terrorists always have hidden motives, don't they?  Damn those Germans.  Zeus (Samuel L Jackson), a black man that gets a little too caught up on skin color, gets involved when he saves McClain's ass in the first "game".  So now he has to tag along and help the NYPD stop the violence.

    This is one of the best sequels I've ever seen.  It's not just a remake of the original with different scenery, they brought in Sammy to give it a bit of variety.  Nice touch.  Also, it could be a successful movie on it's own, without having to tag on to the popularity of the first.  But I'm sure the namesake helped out a great deal in the box office.

    I don't even remotely like how many times Zeus goes off about how McClain is being racist.  It gets old, and even once is too much, but that's just me.   It even continues on after McClain confronts him about it.  Things like, "Can you pick the lock?"  "Is this a black thing again?"   It's pretty much established in the first couple seconds of seeing Zeus, that he doesn't really care for white people too much.  Why do they need to constantly reestablish that fact?  I can see maybe four different short lines about it, but it should end.  It doesn't. 

    Willis is about the coolest action star in the business.   McClain is a really good character for him to play, he has that kind of "I don't give a fuck" attitude.  Some of his lines in this movie are hilarious, and that's good to have in an action movie.  Jackson is also a good actor, and some of his lines are funny as well.  "That guy was pissed."  It doesn't sound funny, but he makes it so.  That's talent.

    One of the main reasons this is an original movie, is because of the different riddles and puzzles our heroes have to solve.  Almost all action movies are just killing and fighting, in this one they actually have to be smart.  It makes the plot a whole lot more interesting to us, the viewers, and it gives the bad guy a bit of character.

    Overall, it's an extremely entertaining movie, it is kind of long because they don't even get to the real motive until about half way through, and just when you think it might be concluding, it starts up again.  But that, along with the whole race thing, are the only drawbacks.  If you haven't seen it because "sequels suck" this one may give you a ray of hope in a dark and desperate corporate Hollywood.

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