Lucy's Old Man Can Still Hack It (With A Little Help)
The Popcorn Reel Movie Review: "Live Free Or Die Hard"
By Omar P.L. Moore/July 2, 2007
In Defiance of Rogaine: Bruce Willis returns triumphantly as the lone ranger
NYPD detective John McClane, once again in the wrong place at the right time, in
Len Wiseman's "Live Free Or Die Hard", which opened last week across North
America. (All photos: Frank Masi/Twentieth Century Fox)
Last week, Len Wiseman's film opened across North America and
after a 12-year absence Bruce Willis still has all the action moves as New York
City Police Detective John McClane in "Live Free Or Die Hard", the first film in
the "Die Hard" series not to be rated R.
The new film is an old-fashioned vehicle to fit a character who is a little long
in the tooth for his job as one of New York's Finest. McClane has to pick
up Matt Ferrell (Justin Long), a cyberhacker wanted by the Feds and ferret him
down to Washington, D.C. for questioning. A routine assignment? No,
of course. For McClane things are never easy -- which is the way he
doesn't really like it. He doesn't find trouble. Trouble always
finds him. McClane's daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has been
estranged from her father, and refuses to take on his last name. "It's
Gennaro", Lucy acidly reminds him early on. There is some playful comedy
between them prior to this moment, and then the next time we see dialogue
between the two it is in very different circumstances. One thing we know:
Lucy got her toughness from her father's side. Winstead's performance is a
nice touch. She doesn't have to trade on her sex appeal to be appealing or
believable. She is attractive, beautiful and sexy without having to have
play the standard action damsel-in-distress with little more than a teddy or
thong to call her own. That is probably down to the film's PG-13 rating
and also to a more is more philosophy, which for Lucy, and her naturally
over-protective father-knows-best father, makes sense.
Accordingly, the "Live Free" script by Mark Bomback is perfectly tailored to
McClane's life situation. The one admirable thing it does wisely is avoid
any story arc about the lead character having a mid-life crisis while doing his
job. (It's no "Lethal Weapon", folks.) After all, as the TV ads have
trumpeted over the last few weeks, "the best is back." "Live Free Or Die
Hard" is the best film since at least "Die Hard 2", which may or may not be
saying a lot in light of the putrid "Die Hard With A Vengeance" (1995), the John
McTiernan-directed film which deservedly had a dozen years to fumigate itself
and evaporate into the ether. (Rumor has it that environmental activists
around the globe had to put out an A.P.B. on the ozone layer as that last film
did the cinematic atmosphere irreparable damage. "Johnny, you're doin'
a heck of a job!" Curiously, McTiernan joined Mr. Willis as one of
four producers on Mr. Wiseman's film.)
By contrast, and on its own, Mr. Wiseman's 2007 effort has to be commended.
"Live Free Or Die Hard" contains amazing and ridiculous stunts that are by the
film's accounts real -- and they look as real as they can get -- no CGI -- which
is perhaps the same as saying, "no MSG" in your Chinese food. Speaking of
Chinese, or at least of countries in its vicinity, McClane's typically tough
talk R-rated "Yippi Ki Yay . . ." is replaced by the racist and sexist
vicissitudes he hurls at Mai, the character played by Hong Kong star Maggie Q
(last seen in an action film in 2006 alongside Tom Cruise in "Mission:
Impossible 3"), a fearless assassin who gives a new meaning to "kicking ass".
As Mai, Q is tough, relentless and more than a match for Old Man McClane.
But Mai learns that you can't teach an old dog new kicks. And does she
ever learn.
Be very afraid . . . of Lucy, not a doubting Thomas: Mary Elizabeth Winstead
plays the tough-as-nails Lucy, with Timothy Olyphant playing uber villain Thomas
Gabriel.
Deadlier than the male: Maggie Q as the villainous Mai, has Justin Long (as
cyber hacker Matt Farrell) over a barrel in "Live Free Or Die Hard", now in
theaters.
Oh, and how could one forget? The virtually nameless and faceless villain
that Mai is the sidekick to. Thomas Gabriel. You should never trust
someone who has two first names for their first and last name. Timothy
Olyphant however, trusted his judgment as an actor and plays Gabriel, a man bent
on closing down America, thanks to his henchmen and women's adeptness with
computers. Gabriel, a disgruntled former U.S. government hacking expert
wants credit for the work he did. He doesn't get it, so he shows the
country what he's learned. You want respect? You've got to earn
it, friend! And Gabriel tries, without trying. Mr. Olyphant
plays Gabriel with a naturalness and nuance that he registers without any
maniacal overacting. (See Philip Seymour Hoffman's villainy in "M:i III".)
We get it -- he's capable of doing damage. We see the damage that he's
doing and has done. And that's all we need to know. "Live Free Or
Die Hard" is no muss, no fuss, no frills, and while it raises the action stakes
for John McClane with all the thrilling, gripping stunts and near misses, it
doesn't set itself as a new bar for action films, nor is it trying to. The
film does its best "True Lies" imitation in a near laughable action-packed
climax, but the action still fits squarely within the script, which is far from
a stellar one. The film's visuals are tainted with greenish bluish hue in
numerous scenes, along with golden sunshine browns (by cinematographer Simon
Duggan.)
"Live Free" exploits the fears generated by the Y2K scare, September 11, 2001,
the August 2003 power outage that held much of the U.S. east coast cities and
parts of Canada in total darkness, and the woeful incommunicado of the U.S.
federal government agencies in the wake of 2005's Hurricane Katrina to make some
of the film's situations palpable. One could call such skullduggery lazy,
calculating, or just plain convenient. One could also call Justin Long's
appearance as cyber hacker Matt Ferrell a humorous gimmick. And it wasn't
until days after the film that yours truly realized that Mr. Long did
look familiar -- he is the pitchman in those cute little Macintosh computer
television ads as he effortlessly squares off against the unfortunate Windows PC
guy. (Only the Apple I-Phone can defeat the Mac pitchman at his own game
-- as viewers in the U.S. will be seeing less of Mr. Long on television, thanks
to the new cabbage patch kid-like craze.) In "Live Free", Mr. Long gives
his computer hacking character a grunge-like geekiness that is submerged in the
charisma he supplies Ferrell. The character could be McClane's surrogate
son, or Lucy's future boyfriend. (Anyone for a sequel??)
Tough Guys Don't Dance, and Old Guys Just Hold On For Dear Life: Bruce Willis
does a lot of holding on, jumping, running, and diving and dodging (but no dance
moves) in "Live Free Or Die Hard", directed by Len Wiseman. The film
opened across North America last week.
Cliff Curtis plays a taut-jawed FBI investigator, a much different character
from the more sappy lightweight detective he played three months ago on the big
scree in the U.S. in Gregory Hoblit's "Fracture". Mr. Curtis, a New
Zealander with an impeccable acting resume, is becoming one of the chameleons of
the big screen of late. (He was also in "Training Day" as the heavy
several years back.) Mr. Curtis pours intensity into everything he does,
and as Captain Bowman (the last name perhaps being a cheeky reference to a
Kubrick film of the past), his facial muscles don't have room to breathe (unless
botox got the better of them.) Bowman is confident, assured -- but as is
par for the course, has his hands tied. The script doesn't give Bowman a
chance to pull a Houdini, but god only knows how John McClane manages to stay
alive throughout this two-hour-plus ordeal. The film is about 15 minutes
longer than it should be and before the riveting action finale, there is
20-minute lull, the calm before the storm to end all "Die Hard" action storms.
Bruce Willis is one of those few actors who is comfortable in a cameo role and
on the big stage when he has it to himself. His ubiquitous presence as a
side character in many a film over the years (especially in the last two or
three years) makes him probably one of the most watched actors in the world
given any calendar year. You can count on him to show up in at least a
dozen movies a year (and that doesn't include any animate films he may voice.)
He is dependable and reliable and once again serviceable as the hired hand who
can effectively scupper the best laid plans of cyber-terrorists. His
rapport with Mr. Long is entertaining, and Mr. Bombeck's script affords many
lines for the two to play off each other both as an action and comedy duo.
"Live Free" isn't stellar, but it is exclusively Mr. Willis's neighborhood.
And after a few uninspired action films -- "Hostage" among them -- Bruce Willis
resuscitates his action guise.
Newsflash: this summer the U.S. treasury department will be minting a new coin
for the state of New Hampshire. On one side, the state motto will be
reworked to read, "Live Free Or Die Hard". On the other side: "In McClane
We Trust."
Car versus helicopter - guess which wins?
He'll take it from here: Bruce Willis, in Len Wiseman's "Live Free Or Die Hard",
now playing.
"Live Free Or Die Hard" is rated PG-13 by the Motion
Picture Association of America for intense sequences of violence and action,
language and a brief sexual situation. The film's duration is two hours
and 12 minutes. A cameo is made by Kevin Smith in the film's final
half-hour. The film opens in France, Taiwan and the U.K., among other
countries, on July 4. The film is already playing in the U.S. and numerous
other countries worldwide.
Copyright The Popcorn Reel. PopcornReel.com. 2007. All Rights
Reserved.