Okay, detailed synopsis of the plot: Terrorists. John McClane. Wrong place, wrong time. Die Hard is back!

Everything you’ve come to expect from the franchise is present and correct – the wisecracks, the queue of take-a-number terrorists being dispatched in ever more brutal ways, a slight slackening of pace around the end of Act 2, a backroom-dwelling mastermind with delusions of grandeur but overall obsession with money, the government agents who think they know best but end up getting in the way, a certain Roy Rogers catchphrase, exploding aircraft, explosions of all kinds, oh lordy the explosions!

But all that is just surface gloss, and pretty as it is, Die Hard has always been about so much more than that. It has depth. No, it really does.

John McClane is one of the all time greatest characters of modern cinema. It’s true. Robert McKee said so (in so many words), and he knows about writing characters. He’s the quintessential everyman, finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time yet still taking it upon himself to make things right despite the constant nagging doubt assailing him that he may not be up to the challenge. He is flawed, and he knows it. A perpetual loser in everyday life, he has seen his marriage and his family life fall apart. As he goes on through this current crisis he is severely beaten, but never broken, and time and time again he crawls back for more punishment as he follows his one true motivation – to prove he’s worth something or die trying.

This is what makes McClane a true hero, and what has audience members audibly rooting for him throughout (Yes, even in Britain.). It is the role that Bruce Willis was born to play. After many, many lacklustre attempts at action or comedy or deeper character pieces in recent years, Willis finds his feet again in the perfect culmination of all three. Not to say that he hasn’t had success outside of the franchise, but here is where he truly shines, so much so that he deftly assuages any fears that he may not be able to cut it in the action scenes at his age.

Special mention must also go to the direction of Len Wiseman and his delivery of everything the fanbase has come to expect from Die Hard in what many regarded as an unnecessary follow-up. Having cut his action teeth with the Underworld movies, Die Hard 4.0 was always going to be a much bigger affair than…. well, anything, and he handles it with aplomb.

This film contains truckloads of jaw-dropping action that will have you punching the air like a drunken Frat boy. From apartment shoot-out to helicopter chase, to exploding jet-fighter, all are delivered in sleek and smooth fashion on a grand scale without being too MTV, cranking up the tension with barely a moment in between to catch your breath. This even-handed approach makes Wiseman truly a name to watch – the 80s had John McTiernan, the 90s had Michael Bay, and now the 00s may have found their addition to the list of heavyweight action directors.

With a plot and a title evoking the evolution of computer software, Die Hard 4.0 is itself an improvement on previous models, achieving things they couldn’t – sleeker, smarter, more impressive. It’s not without its own bugs, but put simply 4.0 is the best edition of the franchise since the original.

by Phil Dixon