Review of A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) by Jason R — 16 Jan 2014

The latest installment in the great action franchise unfortunately plays more often like strung together scenes from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, up to and including the confrontation at Chernobyl. Bruce Willis' John McClane is the same erstwhile wisecracking hardass that he has always been, but the fact that this was penned by the writer of the A-Team movie, which had very little in the way of a coherent plot itself, is a fatal flaw.

It spins at first a very simplistic story, then gets absurdly complicated near the end. There is a good rapport between the McClanes, and the fun, death-defying stunts, gun battles, and explosions are all available in spades.

There is little character development, which is disappointing because there was just enough in each of the other installments when it came to the supporting characters to make them interesting. Jack is mostly just angry, and the other characters' motivations are so messed up it is impossible to find coherence.

Still, despite its flaws it is a lot of fun, and a good sendoff for the series if they choose to conclude it.