Live Free or Die Hard (7.5 out of 10)

My first reacion to Live Free or Die hard was, "That was an interesting film to watch in a Post-True Lies era of action movies." True Lies, a James Cameron picture of the late 1990s essentially paid homage to the unbelievability of action films while also offering commentary on them and, in so doing, showed the lovably absurd films for what they are--good, adrenaline pumping fun. After watching True Lies, one tends to watch action films through a filtered lens of acceptable silliness, wherein the film gets a pass for whatever explosive incidents occur, so long as it is fun. Live Free or Die Hard is the first film to test this acceptability of the ridiculous to the extent of True Lies but differs from True Lies in that attempts to take itself somewhat seriously. This is a major problem for a great action picture, for it forces itself to include exposition and "character development" which slow the film when it should be gaining more momentum.

The film follows divorced Lt. Detective John McClain during a "Firesale", a hacker-term used to describe the complete and total shutdown of the U.S. by overtaking and ruining its technological infrastructure. While Willis plays the cetnral character with humor and great athleticism, Timothy Olyphant portrays his nemesis with calculated calm, only emoting when he's pushed to the edge. Thy dynamic between these two is interesting, but it's also a bit uneven given the lunacy of the film's action sequences, which included Willis hitting a woman with a car, launching a Sedan at a helicopter, and diving from a plane onto a fallen highway.

Overall, however, this lack of balance between the serious and the silly doesn't kill the film or screech it to a halt. That is left to the scenes of exposition and "character development", wherein we are asked to spend time with the movie's many players. Of these players, there are snivelling NSA agents, a hacker named Warlock (played expertly by Kevin Smith), the henchman of Olpyhant, and the head of the Tech Security. While none of these characters nor scenes of exposition are bad in and of themselves, the movie has too many of them spread out over too much time, making the movie start and stop and start and stop and start and...you get the picture. A saavy re-write or edit offering less travel time, closer locations, and fewer scenes of "and now we know this about this person" would have made this picture the best action extravaganza of the last 5 years, easily. Director Les Wiseman has an eye for filming action that is understandable; rather than the chaotic shaky-camera nonsense to which modern audiences are so often forced to succumb.

That being said, Live Free or Die Hard gets a solid 7.5 out of 10 Cinemabuns. The action and banter for which the series is known are fantastic, with Willis turning in a performance as charismatic as McCalin's debut 20-some years ago. The movie fails however by putting too much filler between the sequences of action, leaving the picture feel uneven and jolting from time to time. Overall, some in the audience may find the action unbelievable and silly, but those ready to leave their brain at the door and take the ride should have a good time, even if the ride halts from time to time.