Originally written for publishing on February 16, 2013.

It has been almost thirty years since the original Die
Hard came out and changed the way action movies were made. The plot seemed
simple enough: an average New York City cop stuck in the wrong place at the
wrong time who has to kill the bad guys and cause a few explosions because, like
stated in “Live Free or Die Hard,” “what was I going to do?”

This formula has stuck for every one of the five movies. This brings us to “A Good Day to
Die Hard,” probably the worst film of the franchise, but that’s what we get when
the director of the mess “Max Payne” takes lead of such a cherished franchise.

Rather than using a theme that works so well for the others, the plot seems
really dumbed down and quick to the point. This wrong place happens to be Moscow,
Russia and the wrong time, John Mcclane (Bruce Willis) finding his
estranged son, who is on trial in that country. Without exposing much,
nothing is what it seems, but it is up to John to step in, take lead and kill
the bad guy, as well as cause a few explosions along the way.

Just like the other movies, John is teamed up with
an unlikely partner, but rather than it being someone not his equal, for example
the twinkie cop from the first, Sam Jackson and even Justin Long’s hacker
character in the fourth film, John is teamed up with his very own son, who is
pretty much his equal and at times, seems to pick up the slack for his father
who has become more of the brains than the brawn.

Despite all my criticism though, I thought the
movie was entertaining; who doesn’t like a decent action movie? We go to the
movies to escape the mundane moments of life to not have to think about bills, the stresses
of life, and this movie clearly does that. The movie is kind of over the top
but when you let go and have fun, it’s a ride – a ride we have to pay nearly
$20 for, but we do it anyways.

This movie
might be the last of the series though seeing how Bruce Willis isn’t getting
any younger, so I say don’t just take my word and pass on the movie. Go see it
for yourself and be the judge.