Review: A Good Day to Die Hard

Starring: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch
Director: John Moore

In a few words...: Rollicking action, great one-liners and lots of good fun!
Rating: 7/10

"Yippee Ki-YAY Mother Russia" indeed!! 

Sure, it might be more of the same, on a bigger scale and far removed from the United States of America, but "A Good Day to Die Hard," the latest installment in what I think is still the preeminent action franchise in Hollywood, is wildly entertaining. 

If you want explosions, car chases, wisecracks and gun fights, look no further than the fifth movie featuring rugged and sarcastic New York City cop John McClane (played by the irascible Bruce Willis, with an impressive bald dome). This time, McClane finds himself in Russia, ostensibly to support his son, Jack (Australia's Jai Courtney", who has gotten into some trouble in Moscow as a deniable operator with the Central Intelligence Agency - "the 007 of Plainfield, New Jersey, as McClane senior cracks - but famous for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the two McClane's end up in the midst of a botched CIA mission to extract a shady Russian who had necessary intelligence on a high-ranking Russian official which could ruin the man, to America's political advantage.

Yet, somewhat predictably, nothing goes to plan, and father-and-son McClane
- two peas from the same pod, if ever there's been - are thrust into action, as unwilling partners at first, before they bond over the fact that they're both good at doing the same thing: killing bad guys. A terrific car chase through the streets of Moscow and some great shoot outs in between wisecracks and a few double-crosses that confuse the original mission lead to gloomy Chernobyl, for a finale that raises the bar as far as both explosions and hair-raising escapes go. And whilst there were parts of the film different to the prior four, particularly the emergence of McClane's son, filmmakers were very careful not to wreck a good thing. You knew what you'd get going in, and it didn't disappoint.

Setting the film in Russia adds a nice gloomy element. There aren't many scenes with bright sun shine and blue skies, and the prevailing gun mental grey theme as a backdrop to the action involving weapons-grade plutonium and a bunch of violent Russians going up against two equally violent Americans. After the smog-filled Los Angeles, the Christmas snow globe effect of Washington DC, chaotic New York City and a return to the spectacular grandeur or Washington D.C.m murky Russia was a nice touch.

It's hardly rewriting the book as far as action movies go, but I thought "A Good Day to Die Hard" was a worthy addition to the franchise. Maybe the chemistry between Willis and Courtney wasn't as good as what Willis had with Mary Elizabeth Winstead in "Die Hard 4.0" and maybe Willis overplayed the sarcastic/belittling father a little at times, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself from opening credits to the closing explosions, at all times safe in the knowledge that McClane senior and McClane junior would be just fine in the end.