MOVIE REVIEW
'Die Hard' delivers - again
by MATT CHANDLER Special to The Bee

Bruce Willis plays Detective John McClane

Bruce is back - and for fans of the "Die Hard" series that's good news. After a 12-year hiatus, Willis has revived the role of Detective John McClane and time hasn't softened the demeanor of America's favorite cop - he's as ornery as ever.

In the year of sequels (see "Spiderman," "Shrek," "Evan Almighty," and many more forgettable follow-ups), "Live Free or Die Hard," the fourth installment in the explosive "Die Hard" series, blows away the competition (pun fully intended).

This time around, Detective McClane is given a routine assignment: Go pick up a suspected cyber hacker and drive him to Washington, D.C., for questioning. Sounds easy enough right? But "Die Hard" enthusiasts know this ride is going to be anything but routine.

With the nation under a cyber attack at the hands of a disgruntled former government super geek, McClane takes on the role of single-handedly thwarting an attempt to collapse the transportation systems, financial markets and power grids of the entire United States, all while babysitting his cyber hacker sidekick Matt Ferrell, played brilliantly by Justin Long.

While Long is best known for his recurring role as the Mac computer in those annoying Apple commercials, he shows off a good bit of humor, versatility and a flat out ability to deliver the goods alongside an actor who has been playing the role of McClane since Long was all of 10 years old.

Along the way, McClane manages to find new and unique ways to kill off the bad guys. Sure he still tosses them out of windows, runs them down with cars and shoots them with pinpoint accuracy and a seemingly never-ending supply of bullets, but credit is due to the writers who found new and exciting ways for the good detective to eliminate those pesky criminals.

Get ready to suspend your disbelief (a requirement for viewing ANY of the "Die Hard" films) and watch as McClane takes out the villains with a fire extinguisher, a fire hydrant and a cop car that he literally flies into a helicopter, leading to a vintage "Die Hard" exchange: Farrell: "You just killed a helicopter with a car." McClane (in the deadpan delivery he has mastered through the years): "I was out of bullets."

In the end, and coming as no shock to anyone with a pulse, McClane wipes out every last malcontent, and is left standing, having once again rescued the nation from the brink of disaster. It's all in a day's work for the cop who just keeps bringing it, two decades (and a lot less hair) after we met him back in the late '80s.

Look for a small but well-played bit role by Kevin Smith (the director extraordinaire of "Clerks" fame) as Warlock, an overweight, self-absorbed cyber troll, who lives in his mom's basement, or as he prefers to think of it, his "command post." His scene offers a brief but necessary break in the shooting and mayhem that dominates the screen for the majority of the film's 130 minutes.

It's the kind of film that leaves every guy walking out of the theater with their chest pushed out just a bit, imagining that as they stop in the restroom, the guy next to them just may be looking to pick a fight.

You'll want to leave the kids at home despite the fact this film garnered a PG-13 rating. But the price of a baby sitter will be worth it as every man in the theater gets the chance to live vicariously through the world of John McClane.

We may not be able to drive over cars in 18-wheel trucks or surf on top of a fighter jet in mid-air, but Willis can, and for most guys out there, that's enough.