Reviews

Live Free or Die Hard

The franchise proves aptly named

By PETER KEOUGH | June 27, 2007

3.0 Stars

VIDEO: Watch the trailer for Live Free or Die Hard.

Talk Free: Burce Willis lets loose. By Sharon Steel.

The franchise proves aptly named; the Die Hard series was about as animated as Rocky’s face until director Len Wiseman restored it to its kinetic essence: large vehicles, big explosions, and hapless henchman flying about the singed, bleeding, Don Rickles dome of Bruce Willis’s Detective John McClane. Alienated from his daughter, financially distraught, and needing a shave, McClane takes on the routine assignment of delivering hacker Matt Farrell (Justin Long) to the feds — an assignment that draws him yet again into a megalomaniac plot. The scheme: shut down every computer, exploit government incompetence, and shake down the country for every cent it’s worth. The first in the series to earn a PG-13, Live Free or Die Hard benefits from the tighter restrictions: not only does the rating stifle Kevin Smith’s cameo, but it encourages cleverness and wit rather than shock and gore, making Willis the wisecracking Buster Keaton of the overproduced action movie.

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Topics: Reviews , Buster Keaton, Bruce Willis, Kevin Smith, More

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