Review of Die Hard 2

Die Hard 2 (1990)
8/10
What's the problem ? It's a great sequel
26 August 2013
Warning: Spoilers
*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS I don't understand the complains about "Die hard 2 : Die harder" . The first movie was almost a perfect action movie . It was obvious that sequel will be weaker , yet "Die hard 2" is a very satisfying sequel . It follows the formula that worked so well the first time : one hero - one place - many terrorists , wife in danger , nobody listens to him except a black guy and everything happens during Christmas . There is not a bit of new idea here . The only change is the new director – Renny Harlin , who took over John McTiernan (who was busy with "The hunt for Red October") . Harlin is a solid craftsman and he directs the movie professionally. The screenplay was once again written by Steven Souza and with a help from Doug Richardson.

I'm amazed by the complains about the violence and swearing . Look people , this is R rated movie . If you can't stand the heat , stay out of kitchen. Maybe people who are obsessed with political correctness forgot about it , but in REAL LIFE people swear . A lot. And there isn't a single scene of unnecessary violence here . When you're fighting for life you don't exactly have time for subtlety. If you're looking for mindless violence watch one of those stupid "Saw" movies. And for god's sake there is no plot hole with the planes . You want to know why the airplanes didn't tried to land on other airports ? Because they had too little fuel and the weather was too bad. So , they had to stay in the air.

What I liked ? Bruce Willis is back as the wise cracking John McClane . So is Bonnie Bedelia as his wife. Reginald Veljohnson appears in a small episode as Al Powell. There are one dimensional , but fun characters : John Amos as the idiotic chef of airport security Carmine Lorenzo and Tom Bover as Marvin the wacky janitor. Souza has a sense of humor and there is a plenty of moments to laugh . The action scenes directed by Harlin are exciting and fun. The screenplay offers also some nice twists.

What I didn't liked ? I could live without the naked tai chi . There is one scene with the grenades that makes my head hurt. Those have to be the slowest grenades in the movie history. I don't understand why the airport crew cooperated with the terrorists , even after the terrorists lost their equipment and couldn't blackmail the airport anymore. Also , the movie lacks a really good main villain compared to Alan Rickman from "Die hard" or Jeremy Irons from "Die hard 3".

Anyway , it's a good continuation of McClane's story . There is nothing new here , but it's well executed. In the end it's one of those rare satisfying sequels. I give it 8/10.
11 out of 15 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed