FauxNixon

In Live Free or Die Hard, John McLane (Bruce Willis) is back for another installment in the Die Hard series. This time McLane is drawn into a global scheme by a disaffected computer infrastructure consultant from the Department of Defense who is now terrorizing the United States in particular in order to steal great sums of money; he is sent to transport an individual computer programmer Matt Farrell (Justin Long) as part of the FBI’s investigation, from New Jersey to Washington, D.C.

It’s taken several tries, but this is a successful sequel in the Die Hard series that captures much of the spirit of the original film, with more realistic characters in the development of the McLane family, and a somewhat-less questionable storyline than previous movies. Many of the individual scenarios are implausible to a high degree, but the effects are pulled off in such a way that with the suspension of disbelief typically needed for a movie’s story to succeed, the action sequences make for a pulse-pounding action-thriller.

Don’t prejudge this movie because of Die Hard With a Vengeance. It is quite different and leagues better than its predecessor. That said, it’s an action movie, so don’t try to deconstruct things and just let them happen if you want to enjoy this.