What the hell happened to Lucy McClane (Mary Elizabeth-Winstead)??? I heard she had a cameo in the movie but she was nowhere to be found! I saw the Extended Version, so was she in the Theatrical Version? Maybe that's the reason, but then why would they call it the "Extended Version" when they cut out scenes? Doesn't make logical sense...
Anyways, onto the movie elements itself. John McClane is the same old John McClane that we love, and this character is cake-walk for Bruce Willis. There were some awkward lines that tried to add some comedy into the film but that is on the writers. I thought the writing for the film was somewhat poor. Some jokes were out of place and just didn't work. I don't know if it was supposed to be funny or not, but McClane mentions he's on vacations like at least 3 times in the movie... The funniest part to me happened near the beginning involving McClane and a Russian in a car accident. Nevertheless, Bruce Willis owns the role and I hope they do a better job in the next installment, and if anything, have a callback to one of the older films, namely the first Die Hard or Die Hard with a Vengeance (yes, the Samuel L. Jackson one, FTW!).
Wasn't a fan of his son, Jack McClane. Again, could be the writing because his line delivery just seemed off or the actor couldn't pull it off well enough. The "funny" moments weren't funny and their attempts to make this a family affair type of a movie didn't feel like one so much. Yeah, they were father and son but the family dynamic wasn't strong enough for me and he could've been a real close friend of McClane's and I would've bought it. As for the villain(s), sadly no Die Hard villain will ever top the Gruber brothers from the previously mentioned films. Their "evil plan" wasn't really a prevalent part of the story, as it is discovered in the last act of the film really. You're not really invested in the villain(s) because they hardly even get to carry out their plans. So yeah, story-wise, no doubt the worst Die Hard movie of them all as it was basically an John McClane-kicks-major-ass action movie made by cash-cow producers without any smarts or emotional investment in the characters.
Although I heard many people didn't like the "Yippie-Kai-Yay" moment in the film, I enjoyed it and I thought the way he took out the bad guy(s) was cool. I really hope they are not trying to keep this franchise going with his son though. John McClane must be the protagonist in a Die Hard movie and it should end with him, but I think Bruce Willis can still pull off another great Die Hard film, maybe more, so long as the writers make it smart. I actually thought Live Free Die Hard was a smart movie, and I actually rank that 3rd over Die Hard 2. I'm glad I didn't see this in theaters because it would've been a waste of money (unless I was sneaking in of course) but I wouldn't even buy the Blu-Ray/DVD to complete to my collection... that's what I think of it. Here's hoping someone brings this franchise back to prominence in the next installment, which I heard might be set in Japan (Nakatomi reference anyone?), sort of like how John McTiernan came back for the 3rd film and saved it from the dreadful 2nd.
Final note: Yuliya Snigir is capital H-O-T HOT and you can add her to the list of Russian beauties that should've played Black Widow in the Marvel Universe (sorry Scarlett Johansson, I know we went to elementary school together but your role was miscast).
Ranking the Die Hard films, favorite to least:
1) Die Hard with a Vengeance
2) Die Hard
3) Live Free or Die Hard
4) Die Hard 2
5) A Good Day to Die Hard
4/10
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