REVIEW

DIRECTOR: John Moore

STARRING: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney

RATING: 2/5

The 25-year-old Die Hard franchise is showing its age. In this latest instalment, Bruce Willis trots out his most iconic character once more with very little of the everyman wit or cowboy charm that he previously possessed. Instead, he resembles a man who has been here and done this one – or maybe two – too many times.

In this awkwardly titled instalment, John McClane (Willis) flies to Russia to help his estranged and imprisoned son John McClane Jr. (Courtney). It then happens that McClane Jr. is a CIA operative in the middle of preventing a nuclear weapons heist, thus resembles McClane Sr. in more than name. Soon, both generations are waging war against faceless henchmen and unmemorable villains alike.

Transferring the action out of America and into Russia, director John Moore hoped to give this entry a unique and distinct identity. Despite this gimmick, the film has a distinctly murky look that makes it the blandest looking entry to date. The father-son dynamic provides some machismo chemistry, but when the characters are this under-written it becomes hard to care. Courtney does his best to portray the younger McClane but he barely makes an impact, while the villain is also disappointing and no Hans Gruber.

At this stage in the franchise, the action is the sole selling point and to an extent it doesnÔÇÖt disappoint. Three major set pieces are competently staged yet lack the inspiration and invention that made Die Hard a beloved franchise in the first place. Choppy editing and shaky camerawork are unwelcome additions to a franchise known for well-choreographed carnage.As an action film it is capable but average, yet as a Die Hard film it is tragic. A Good Day to Die Hard would be a good time to call it quits.

Max Eshraghi