Review: A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)

Review by Disgruntled Monkey

Director: John Moore

Starring: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch

Writer: Skip Woods

If a movie bores the heck out of me, I would normally come to the conclusion that it either wasn’t very well put together or it is devoid of any real passion. A Good Day to Die Hard is so boring, in fact, that by the end all I could really think about was how much longer until I could go play some Skylanders. Yet I can’t help but feel that some of the blame should be aimed at the studio.

Scenes from the trailer seem cut out of the main product and a much touted scene with Bruce Willis and a returning Mary Elizabeth Winstead is gone. Overall it seems that character development is sacrificed for action and the hopes that people will be distracted with all the explosions. I just didn’t care. It may sound weird to some people but I do require more than just action in an action movie.

Bruce Willis seems like he’s sleep walking (a complaint I have in many of his recent films). Jai Courtney seems okay as the McClane son but isn’t given much to do. What really disappointed me is the villain is so boooooooooooooooooooooring. Die Hards 1-3 had interesting villains and even number 4’s Gabriel had a certain something about him. Even the plot just seems to be going through the motions and not giving the villains anything to really cling on to.

Everyone in this scene looks bored as me watching this crap.

Visually the action scenes will grab your attention but with nothing backing them it’s all too easy for it to become a grey blur of motion. The movies of the past have action scenes that I can vividly remember; yet again even number 4 has some scenes that I recall fondly - aiming a car at a helicopter and fighter plane vs big rig – immediately leap to mind. Die Hard 5 has nothing truly memorable and therefore nothing I really want to re-watch (yes I’ve re-watched Die Hard 4 a few times).

There is proof that there was more to this film in the beginning. Scenes we know were filmed and even hyped, seem to have been taken out and thrown away. However studio intervention or no, for me there is nothing in this that is memorable. It’s a paint by numbers picture with nothing to recommend. Just avoid.