Die Hard; with amendments

--Plot sort of given away in this opinion--

It’s a snowy Christmas Eve in Washington DC, terrorists have seized an international airport and thousands of holiday travelers are being held hostage inside their planes which have been told to circle up above. The terrorists are a rebel band of hardened military commandos who have come to rescue a drug lord from justice. They have prepared for everything, except for John McClane.

Bring on Bruce Willis as New York cop John McClane (hooray, swoon) - muscles a bulging, sweat a pouring, and generally being an all round action hero waiting to meet his wife from one of the planes. Seized by Déjà vu he notices some dodgy looking geezers sneaking into baggage handling.

It’s a race against time, the fuel is running low for the planes up above, but with lots of explosions, large scale action, shooting and blood later he finally rescues her. **Yes, I know I’ve left out a huge gap in the plot, but that wouldn’t make you want to watch the film! **

Bonnie Bedelia (Mrs McClane) returns as the unfortunate wife, William Atherton is the muckraking journalist and plays his part extremely well. William Sadler plays Colonel Stuart who is a right-wing fanatic and the villain of the piece, while Renny Harlin directs them all extremely well. Ok, I’m very one sided when it comes to Bruce Willis (phwarrr) but this action film is actually quite good. Well, as long as you don’t think about the huge plot holes too much, oh, and some of the scenes have no logic whatsoever, but I promise you’ll enjoy the show.

I think that this surpasses the standards set by the first Die Hard film. Based on Walter Wager’s novel ’58 minutes’ (something I didn’t know, another book I shall be purchasing soon!) the script isn’t all that bad either, but did you know that it cost $60 million to make – wow! I could have knocked something together with me and Bruce in for a lot less (although it wouldn’t have sold that well ;+) hehehe).

The music is Ok (ie. cue corny Xmas song at the end), the suspense is well balanced but not as much as the first film and the darkness actually helps the film in a lot of ways. Ok, so nothing radical happens in Die Hard 2, but it doesn’t stray from the traditions of the action packed genre. And of course once more, McClane seems the only possible man for the job.

This movie in analysis, is a worthwhile action film, but it’s not as ‘new’ as the first Die Hard, nevertheless, whoever enjoyed the first will undoubtedly enjoy the second, and whoever enjoys Bruce Willis, will definitely get a kick out of Die Hard 2 - Fasten your seatbelt!