PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, language, and a brief sexual situation.
Directed by Len Wiseman (Underworld, Underworld: Evolution)
Starring Steve Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant, Maggie Q, and Kevin Smith
Yippee Ki Yay!!
It's the beginning of the Fourth of July weekend when someone hacks into the computers of the United States infrastructure, threatening to shut down the entire nation. The FBI Director decides to round up all the usual hackers but because of the holiday weekend most of their agents are on vacation. So he instructs them to get local police officers to take care of it. Enter John McClane (Bruce Willis) who is assigned to bring in hacker Matt Farrell (Justin Long). But for McClane, the ordinary has a nasty habit of exploding into the extraordinary, leading him into the wrong place at the wrong time.
McClane has battled some pretty ruthless terrorists in the Die Hard franchise; this time around it is Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant). Gabriel is a brilliant-but-disgruntled former government security expert bent on pulling off what hackers call a “fire sale” as in, everything must go! The plan is to simultaneously shut down all transit, financial and utility functions across the country and steal the collective wealth of the entire nation. Since McClane is “an analogue cop in a digital word”, he’ll need the help of Farrell and the Warlock (Kevin Smith) to save the day.
Die Hard was the first movie I bought and is still at the top on my all-time-favorite action movies list. So I was pumped to see the latest installment of the amazing franchise. In my opinion, Live Free or Die Hard did not disappoint.
The whole “analogue cop in a digital word” story is terrific. And the fact that he once again finds the most unlikely partner, although it’s been done, works perfectly here. The chemistry between them is solid and leads to both very funny and very emotional scenes. Both the terrorists and Fire Sale terror plot are well thought out and believable.
My only criticism is that they went a little over the top on this one. I really don’t need to see Bruce Willis riding on the back of a fighter jet. I mean the thing that made Die Hard movies so great was the less-than-super, “I’m just a regular guy” character of John McClane. We cringed when he walked on glass…barefoot and we cheered when he blew up the plane and we laughed at his great lines. I felt they lost that in a scene or two and elevated him into that super hero category.
Live Free or Die Hard is what it is. If you hated 1 through 3 – save your money; but if you’re like me and loved the great one-liners, the edge of your seat action and the every man hero story…then go see it NOW!!!
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
It’s a true PG-13 rating mostly for the violence and language so for younger kids it’s a no. Older kids, especially the ones who have seen Die Hard 1, 2 or 3, should be fine. You won’t find anything more offensive in this one.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
