Die Hard 4: Yippee-ki-yay, motherfu-
Well, there’s nothing new about this movie’s plot. It’s the usual clichéd, recycled stuff alright. Some bad guys hack into the U.S. intelligence network, controlling everything, siphoning money throwing the world’s greatest nation into an unprecedented havoc. The good guy cop single-handedly kicks the baddie’s ass real hard. Well, not really single handed: he’s got a young hacker comrade (or hackers, if you count that fatty Freddy warlock couch potato yang berisi). And there are the incompetent government bureaucrats who couldn’t do no shit when faced with the bad guy’s onslaught who always shows up late when action is over just to pick up the leftovers. Man this hacker thing is becoming a trend, isn’t it? They gotta do something about it because it’s getting more and more uninspiring and un-innovative with each time it’s used.
What’s nice about this movie is watching Bruce Willis in action. He may be getting old but he still packs a punch. Seeing him pulling those stunts like using a car to kill a freaking chopper is just pure awesomeness. He’s bad tempered, foul-mouthed – calling everyone names for one - and invincible - explosives, assassins, Chinese ninja chick couldn’t snuff him out; covered with injuries, he just stands up, shrugs off the dust, and gets ready for action again. One helluva badass cop if you ask me, and he’s enjoying himself.
Pause~ Check out the trailer if you haven't seen the movie (includes the car kills chopper scene)
Another thing I liked about this movie is that it doesn’t preach “noble” principles like justice and U.S. patriotism that bunch load of cheesy craps like many movies do…cough…cough….Transf…… When he was asked by the hacker Matt Farrell why he is fighting so hard, John McClane answers because no one else will do it, so he gotta do it. Just that, no didactic speech or moralizing. And this movie doesn’t go out its way to erect a ridiculous romance plot – while there were hints of romance, this movie doesn’t stretch it and strike out a couple just for the sake of it.
The action was great. Crisp and clear and your usual Bing! Bang! And Boom! Some scenes were pretty creative and overall, it’s fun. One thing that hmmm…shocked me… was how hard Bruce Willis pounded a young hot chick like Maggie Q. That's a very serious offense against women! The actions were pretty exaggerated, e.g. people standing up as if nothing happened after say, getting banged hard by a car, but hey, it’s Die Hard, and that’s the freaking spirit, I says!
About the other characters, they were alright. Matthew Farrell was sort of the comic relief. He sometimes overdoes it, but it’s kept in check. I usually don’t prefer young whippersnappers in movies, as they usually don’t have much acting skills, or they’re too wimpy or they become unimpressive heroes. But I’ve gotta admit, I liked him. The way he develops from being a scaredy cat to one who dares to defy the bad guys. About the bad guys, they’re just the stereotyped bad guys. Arch bad guy Thomas Gabriel has some hmmm… unpleasant history while the others were just cardboards.
To be honest, I was pretty disappointed with Mai's character. It wasn’t like I was expecting hot and steamy scenes, but just some show of flesh to please the eye. She’s not as hot as Megan Fox anyway. Thank God there wasn’t any lovey-dovey stuff between Mai and the bad guy or Farrell/Lucy. Superficial romance only makes me cringe. And I was pleased that the movie didn’t steer away from its path by setting up stages for just-for-show heroism and trying too hard to get emotional. It remained true to its action genre and gave the audience a satisfying serving of it. It didn’t bother trying to please everybody by portraying heroism and patriotism half-assedly like cough….cough… Transf….
This movie kicks ass. It’s honest and comfortable with itself and doesn’t try things out of range nor being what it’s not, unlike the world’s flashiest GM/eBay commercial.
Peace.
What’s nice about this movie is watching Bruce Willis in action. He may be getting old but he still packs a punch. Seeing him pulling those stunts like using a car to kill a freaking chopper is just pure awesomeness. He’s bad tempered, foul-mouthed – calling everyone names for one - and invincible - explosives, assassins, Chinese ninja chick couldn’t snuff him out; covered with injuries, he just stands up, shrugs off the dust, and gets ready for action again. One helluva badass cop if you ask me, and he’s enjoying himself.
Pause~ Check out the trailer if you haven't seen the movie (includes the car kills chopper scene)
Another thing I liked about this movie is that it doesn’t preach “noble” principles like justice and U.S. patriotism that bunch load of cheesy craps like many movies do…cough…cough….Transf…… When he was asked by the hacker Matt Farrell why he is fighting so hard, John McClane answers because no one else will do it, so he gotta do it. Just that, no didactic speech or moralizing. And this movie doesn’t go out its way to erect a ridiculous romance plot – while there were hints of romance, this movie doesn’t stretch it and strike out a couple just for the sake of it.
The action was great. Crisp and clear and your usual Bing! Bang! And Boom! Some scenes were pretty creative and overall, it’s fun. One thing that hmmm…shocked me… was how hard Bruce Willis pounded a young hot chick like Maggie Q. That's a very serious offense against women! The actions were pretty exaggerated, e.g. people standing up as if nothing happened after say, getting banged hard by a car, but hey, it’s Die Hard, and that’s the freaking spirit, I says!
About the other characters, they were alright. Matthew Farrell was sort of the comic relief. He sometimes overdoes it, but it’s kept in check. I usually don’t prefer young whippersnappers in movies, as they usually don’t have much acting skills, or they’re too wimpy or they become unimpressive heroes. But I’ve gotta admit, I liked him. The way he develops from being a scaredy cat to one who dares to defy the bad guys. About the bad guys, they’re just the stereotyped bad guys. Arch bad guy Thomas Gabriel has some hmmm… unpleasant history while the others were just cardboards.
To be honest, I was pretty disappointed with Mai's character. It wasn’t like I was expecting hot and steamy scenes, but just some show of flesh to please the eye. She’s not as hot as Megan Fox anyway. Thank God there wasn’t any lovey-dovey stuff between Mai and the bad guy or Farrell/Lucy. Superficial romance only makes me cringe. And I was pleased that the movie didn’t steer away from its path by setting up stages for just-for-show heroism and trying too hard to get emotional. It remained true to its action genre and gave the audience a satisfying serving of it. It didn’t bother trying to please everybody by portraying heroism and patriotism half-assedly like cough….cough… Transf….
This movie kicks ass. It’s honest and comfortable with itself and doesn’t try things out of range nor being what it’s not, unlike the world’s flashiest GM/eBay commercial.
Peace.