Movie of the Week (1/19/14-1/25/14): I'm in the mood for another action flick this week so why not one that was a sequel to one of the best action movies of all time. That's right, Bruce Willis returned to his iconic role as the cop from New York who is always "At the wrong place at the wrong time." Now this might have been a step down from the first one, but it really wasn't a very big step down because it had a good director, that classic '80's action feel, and a couple of interesting twists. This is Die Hard 2: Die Harder.
This second adventure follows John McClane in Washington D.C. at Dulles International Airport as a group of traitorous rogue U.S. military men take over the airport. There mission? To intercept an airplane carrying a terrorist general and set him free. And if they do that they all get paid a bunch of money and get to live in "paradise." But of course John McClane will do anything to stop them as they have caused planes to circle the airport until they run out of fuel. McClane's wife is on one of the planes, so that gives him some motivation to find and stop the traitors from intercepting the general and killing any innocent people.
Now, like I said Bruce Willis returned as John McClane and we all love watching his exploits and Bruce does another great job in a role that will always be his. Bonnie Bedelia returned as Holly McClane, in a smaller role, but still kept the feel of Die Hard alive. Reginald VelJohnson even has a short cameo that was nice to see. William Sadler plays the main antagonist as Colonel Stuart, you may know him from The Shawshank Redemption among many other films where he plays a good small character. This is one of his different roles where he plays a tough military man and can fight... good, he gives us a good performance. We also have John Amos as a military Major who comes in as relief during the chaos, and Dennis Franz as the Captain of the airport police, who can be quite annoying at times. Robert Patrick also has a brief appearance in a small role as one of the bad guys.
The first thing that makes this a good movie is its small connections to the first movie with all of the little things that the director, not the same from the first one, put in there. You'll know them when you see them, or hear them. The director for this film, Renny Harlin, who also did Cliffhanger, gave this his own touch as it is a little more faster paced and filled with a little more over the top action. But, that's okay because it was fun and exciting to watch, let alone gory, and got to the point faster. Renny Harlin is a good director he just hasn't made any good choices since Cliffhanger in 1993 and I wish he did because he had potential.
This movie also had very good effects when it came to the shootouts and were choreographed very well, which made them intense to watch. Another thing that made this a good, not great, sequel were the twists that we have and they have a few clues to them along the way, some easier and some not so much, but of course once they happen you are still shocked in a way. But, it was something that made the film better and brought some characters together in the end that we wouldn't have thought would come together. In the end this is a sequel with its own feel to it yet had plenty of connections to the first one, good direction, effects, and good twists that will keep you entertained.
3/4 Stars
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