Live Free Or Die Hard Movie Review - Franchise Does the Latter

Perhaps the best thing about Bruce Willis' latest outing as John McClane is the title. "Live Free Or Die Hard" (2007) sounds less cheesy than its precursor, "Die Hard With a Vengeance." And-- as titles go-- is certainly an improvement on "Die Hard 2: Die Harder."

But as far as content, "Live Free" is easily the worst entry in the series.

The stunts and special effects are entertaining to be sure. Unfortunately, the story is so ludicrous it prevents even the slightest suspension of disbelief, an essential element for the genre. Take for example the opening scenes of the film. The bad guys are killing off computer hackers by uploading a virus to their respective systems.

What kind of virus?

The kind of virus that when you hit "delete," your house explodes in a ball of fire. How a digital virus results in such a massive fireball I'll never know. Maybe we are supposed to assume the bad guys have wired bombs inside the hackers' gear, but such details are routinely glossed over in a world where everything-- and I mean everything-- is possible with a keyboard an high speed internet connection.

A typical set piece runs like this:

The villain looms over his computer screen, monitoring John McClane's automobile driving through Washington D.C. (The villain has satellite access.)

McClane drives through an underground tunnel, closed for construction, on his way to headquarters. (Convenient.)

With a few clicks of his mouse, the villain alters the detour signs and reroutes traffic. At each end of the tunnel, hapless motorists begin speeding towards each other with McClane sandwiched in the middle. (I guess the villain also has remote access to traffic lights and signs. Luckily for him, D.C. drivers will happily zoom the wrong way down a one way tunnel because the signals told them to.)

Then the tunnel lights go out. (Which means he has remote access to the electrical grid too?)

Now that's ingenuity. Did I mention the villain's master plan is to electronically manipulate all U.S. transportation, government, financial and utility systems simultaneously? He wants to erase the financial records, "reset the clock," and "send us back to the stone age." An ambitious plan, to say the least.

In a movie like "The Rock" we allow such implausibilities to sneak by without much thought, because unlikely as they may be, they are at least POSSIBLE. In the world of "Live Free Or Die Hard," the villain could probably use a cell phone to hack into McClane's nervous system.

The more you can avoid thinking analytically, the more you will enjoy this movie. Highlights include watching McClane take down a helicopter with an automobile, and Kevin Smith (of "Clerks") as the hacker called Warlock. He lives in his Mom's basement which he refers to as the "command center."

Grade: C-