It is kind of hard to believe that it has been about 6 years since ’07’s “Live Free or Die Hard” gave new life to the Die Hard franchise, pumping it with cinematic steroids to give the action a boost to over-the-top proportions. I cannot precisely recall what the general feelings of the average fan were concerning the last outing, but it earned enough money to garner another sequel, so someone must have been at least moderately fond of it. After all, who does not like that?
For the first time, the story takes place off of United States soil, as John McClane (Bruce Willis) travels to Moscow, Russia to rescue his son Jack (Jai Courtney), who is going on trial for an attempted murder. It is said that he will be lucky to get life in prison, meaning he will likely be executed for his crimes. As John steps back into his son’s life, who insists that he stay out of it, it is eventually revealed that Jack is a CIA agent, working a 3-year operation to rescue former Russian billionaire Yuri Komarov (Sebastian Koch), imprisoned for seemingly propaganda fueled political reasons. John finds it more humorous than serious that Jack is a “spy,” as he calls it, or “the 007 of Plainfield New Jersey,” while Jack, who does not have a very good relationship with his father, tries to ignore him. Inevitably, as things go so far wrong that Jack cannot right it by himself, he reluctantly enlists the help of John.
It is hard to say whether “A Good Day...” exactly recaptures the action style and intensity of “Live Free...,” but however anyone feels, the action is still the backbone and forefront of the franchise and the reason to see the latest outing. Though time is taken to properly stage the setting, the movie hits the ground running. From the first major action scene, which is a car chase that takes place on the freeways of Russia, to a shootout that involves a military grade helicopter, which happens to be my favorite action scene, through to the very end there is no disappointment here. Bruce Willis and screen son Jai Courtney wield a handful of big guns, by dialogue almost making fun of the script, which never sees them with any sort of plan, but rather a set of skills to will themselves out of any predicament, no matter if they are up to their necks in the mud.
Bruce Willis, the face of the franchise–and maybe the American right to bear arms–brings the laughs, with witty sarcasm, often poking fun at son Jack McClane, even when face-to-face with death. Funny as he is, though, the humor is not used to substitute his ability to bring the thrills, even at the age of 57. As mentioned above, he shoots big guns and looks more comfortable than any other actor doing so (check the trailer for “G.I. Joe Retaliation,” his big shootout in “Looper,” and also “The Expendables 2,” and you will come to the same revelation I have, which is that no one else looks cooler shooting a gun). He may run a little slower–okay, a lot slower–but his lack of agility is made up by his on-screen toughness. For proof, he rolls a truck, gets hit and sent rolling by another car that he drives and rolls more intentionally than the first, all without taking a single pain reliever.
Jai Courtney (Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Jack Reacher), if not before, proves he has a bright future in the movie business. Usually when Hollywood puts together scripts that sort of bridge separate generations with one older and one younger actor, it can be a little annoying to watch. Often the younger is rushing headfirst into situations, needing a rescue every other minute, or the older has lost so much of a step from his youthful years that the younger has to save so many times, I lose count, all in more an attempt than anything else to sort of “pass the torch.” Thankfully those script cliches are avoided here.
Aside from the main headliners, Bruce and Jai, the rest of the cast, which includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lucy, who makes more of a cameo than anything, Sabastian Koch as Yuri Komarov, Yuliya Snigir as Irina, Radivoje Bukvic as Alik or “the dancer,” to name a few, do a good job of bringing the script to life a.
To be honest, I am not much of a Die Hard fan, not because I do not like them, but because I have not seen most of them, however, I recommend seeing it for fans of the franchise and movies in general.
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