Review of Die Hard 2 (1990) by Skyler G — 13 Feb 2013

When it comes to sequels, all movies including action films tend to try reciprocating the same formula that worked in the original. Some succeed while others completely miss the mark, in the case of "Die Hard 2", it falls somewhere in the middle.

"Die Hard 2" has the return of the wise-cracking, kick ass cop, John McClane (Bruce Willis) awaiting the arrival of his wife in an airport only to have the airport completely under terrorist control.

The terrorists led by Col. Stuart (Bill Sadler) take the airport hostage to free a South American political figure/suspected drug ring leader, while keeping all other flights, including McClane's wife, suspended in the air while running out of fuel.

McClane must stop the terrorists before the planes come crashing down to save the passengers and his wife from certain death. Let's start by saying that "Die Hard 2" may not be as great as the original but it does have its saving graces, but let's talk about the negatives first.

This film follows a similar narrative path as the first movie but makes everything much larger in scale and that's a lot of its problem. The claustrophobic high rise tower from "Die Hard 1" was the perfect setting for an action movie of this calibre.

This movie, instead, gives us multiple locations to add more set-pieces which, for the most part, are quite effective but there's a noticeable sense of detachment from the action compared to the original.

This movie also has an overwhelming number of supporting characters (new and returning) where the acting is very mixed and the character's themselves range from tolerable, cheesy or just plain annoying.

Some other problems lie in the script which is solid enough but focuses more on hammy, non-sense driven dialogue and there's a lack of a memorable villain (Col. Stuart is NO Hanz Gruber by a long shot).

The good things about this movie lie almost entirely in Bruce Willis himself. He makes you believe in realism of the stakes at hand while still maintaining that cool, collected persona that was beloved in the original.

Even when the action gets crazily exaggerated (one in particular example involving grenades and a cock-pit) you still want his character to overcome all odds which keeps you locked in. In closing, "Die Hard 2" is a good sequel with well directed action and suspense but will ultimately be forgettable for most.

It's still enjoyable and worth a watch for fans of the series and action flicks alike.