This seems like the weekend for watching Bruce Willis do what he does these days in the movies. He shoots guns and tries to make up with his estranged family. This one is Die Hard In Russia, the one with the son who is in the C.I.A. It's a good premise but the script is half the fun that it should have been and I saw all the twists coming from a mile away.
I could go into a long diatribe about how it's so convenient that the good guys can find trunksful of weapons whenever they want to storm a heavily armed Russian compound but what's the point. You know what you are getting here. Things blow up and they blow up real good.
Oh and they find the love between father and son and they only had to do billions of dollars in damage and kill as many foreign speaking people as they could to complete that bonding mission.
There is also some balloon juice about Chernobyl and a secret scheme to sell the uranium of the black market but none of that matters because no one important will be killed. Only the bad guys will die and civilian damage will be kept to an absolute maximum.
Bruce Willis can do movies like this in his sleep but for once I kind wish he wouldn't. Imagine what he might be able to do with the right material. I don't care if he wins because I KNOW he wins. This is Die Hard With None Of The Surprises.
Russian looks as Cold War crappy as you thing it should but probably doesn't. Everything looks industrial and grubby to go with the grubby look on every actor's face. The set's look like they were created just so they could later be blown up. Chernobyl never looks as much fun to be in.
The film is totally disposable and I will probably forget everything about it that the filmmakers want me to remember. Even the big explosions elicit only yawns - I must be especially jaded.
Yuliya Snigir IS badass and sexy as the daughter of a Russian crime boss. She was fun to watch go all crazy on everyone around her while flying a helicopter gunship.
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4 comments:
I watched this and then a week later saw the original DIE HARD when our local theater showed it for an 80's film fest. The first movie still rocks after all this time, while this film just kind of washes over you. The difference? STORYTELLING! The first film told a story in an extremely clever way through dialogue and visual clues. This one... I think there was a story in there somewhere but it got lost in the gunfire and shrapnel. The filmmaking itself was ham-handed. Half the time I couldn't figure out who was in what car and where they were going.
These movies started out so clever and with each sequel it's just gotten messier and messier.
I will get it when it is buy 2 get one free at Blockbuster!
Die Hared the Original is one of the most perfect examples of capturing lightning in a bottle. Great situation, good villain...no GREAT villain, handicapped HANDICAPPED (no shoes) hero with attitude and can't die attitude. Great lines that REALLY break the tension. Emotions that are NOT forced and elation at his victory at the end. Even Die Hard 2 I like because it does the same only puts him outdoors. You see how far Bruce Willis has come. In the first one he was dynamite. In this one it's like watching your dad. It's a little sad. Yeh, he can do the stunts but the story is beyond stupid and he is just phoning it in. Then it get's all huggy and Dr Drewy and I just waited for something else to blow up and they did blow up good.
That and his son makes a crappy sidekick.
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