Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995)

Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L Jackson

Synopsis:
John McLane teams up with a Harlem electrician to play a mad bomber's game of Simon Says.

Impressions:
Die Hard is an excellent movie. Die Hard 2 is a good movie. Now, given how sequels tend to work, you might be expecting me to say Die Hard With a Vengeance is a mediocre movie or even a bad movie. Well, you'd be wrong. The third entry in the franchise, while not able to meet the same high bar set by the original, is still a great film and one of the better action films out there. Die Hard traditions like big action, a smart villain and a grand plot are all in place. One notable difference between this and the previous two movies is that there is no jurisdiction friction or obstructive bureaucrats getting in the way. The NYPD, the FBI and various civilian agencies all work together and are given a positive portrayal. It's a nice change of pace, even if New York seems to get this kind of treatment more often than other cities.

I like seeing a strong cast of characters and on that note, the film doesn't disappoint. Samuel L Jackson makes a great partner for McLane, Jeremy Irons is an outstanding villain, and there are a number of appealing minor characters like McLane's superior Inspector Cobb (Larry Bryggman), fellow cops Lambert (Graham Greene), Kowalski (Colleen Camp) and Charlie (Kevin Chamberlin), and co-dragons Targo (Nicholas Wyman) and Katya (Sam Phillips).

This is how a good sequel is done. Too bad the next two movies didn't get the memo. Watch this and pretend 4 an 5 didn't happen.

Rating:
Own It