This movie is
exciting, fast, and thrilling. It dives headfirst into action, leaving little
room for story depth—just straightforward action with unbelievable performances
by the leads. None of the supporting cast from the first two movies returns,
but despite this, the film stands tall as a fantastic action movie that
everyone should experience.
Die Hard with a
Vengeance is a thrilling addition to the Die Hard franchise, pairing our hero
John McClane with another powerhouse actor, Samuel L. Jackson. Together, they
face off against a vengeful terrorist. The villain, Simon, seeks payback for
McClane taking down his brother in the first Die Hard movie. But revenge isn’t
his only goal—stealing over $140 billion in gold from the Federal Reserve Bank
of New York is also part of the plan.
The movie kicks off with a massive explosion, and unlike the first two films, McClane is fully in control of the situation from the start—a welcome twist in the series. While the second movie (Die Hard 2: Die Harder) ended on a happy note with McClane and his wife Holly walking off together, this one starts with McClane as a washed-up cop dealing with the fallout from his split with Holly.
The plot
revolves around a man who calls himself Simon, who plants bombs across New York
City and plays a deadly game of "Simon Says" with the police. The
unwilling participants are John McClane (Bruce Willis) and Zeus Carver (Samuel
L. Jackson). Zeus gets dragged into the chaos when Simon forces McClane to wear
a sign saying "I Hate Ni**ers" in a Black neighborhood. Zeus saves
McClane from the backlash, and Simon ropes the duo into running all over New
York to stop his bombs. Eventually, McClane and Zeus get ahead of Simon’s plans
and take him down with McClane’s iconic line, "Yippee kai yay,
motherfu@#er."
Directed by John
McTiernan, who also helmed the original Die Hard, this movie is based on
characters created by Roderick Thorp. Samuel L. Jackson delivers an outstanding
performance as Zeus Carver, earning praise for his role. Jeremy Irons plays
Simon, the villain, though he doesn’t quite reach the heights of Alan Rickman’s
Hans Gruber from the first film.
As Hans Gruber
said in the original Die Hard (1988), “John Wayne doesn’t always walk away into
the sunset with Grace Kelly” (with McClane correcting him, saying it was Gary
Cooper). Similarly, this film gives us a hero whose life isn’t picture-perfect.
McClane’s resourcefulness saves the day, but his personal life continues to
unravel, and by the end of this movie, there’s no happy reunion with his wife.
Die Hard with a
Vengeance had a production cost of $90 million—$20 million more than the second
movie—and grossed over $360 million at the box office, $100 million more than
its predecessor. After this installment, producers waited 12 years to release Live
Free or Die Hard (2007), followed by A Good Day to Die Hard (2013).
I love this
movie, and in the spirit of "Simon Says," I think everyone should see
it. To me, it’s better than the second film in the franchise.
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