Yippee Ki Yay once again everybody as I am ready to dive back into the world of Die Hard once more! As I stated in my review of the original (which you can check out on my blog if you haven’t already) I will be reviewing all 5 entries in the series and then doing a ranking of them once I finish which is something I’m doing largely for fun as it is one of my favorite movie series out there. But anyway back to talking about the movie well as I stated in my review I find the original to be one of my favorite action movies of all time (and really one of my favorite movies) as it’s a movie I can watch over and over again without ever getting bored. Funny though I had actually never seen the sequels until this year during quarantine so it was pretty interesting watching all of these almost back to back and when it comes to Die Harder it got a pretty decent reception, and was a big hit back in the day though it doesn’t quite have the sterling reputation as it’s predecessor or even the third installment Die Hard With a Vengeance. While I do admit it doesn’t reach those heights, I actually do enjoy this one a lot and find it to be somewhat overlooked in the grand scheme of things. So let’s join up with John McClane for a second time and see what mess he’s stumbled into this time!
Two years after the events that took place at the Nakatomi Tower, Officer John McClane is now working with the Los Angeles police department. It is Christmas Eve once again and he is stuck at the Washington Dulles International Airport waiting for his wife, Holly, to arrive from a long flight from LA. So he just waits there dealing with a lot of inconveniences (such as his car getting towed) until at the bar he notices two men wearing army fatigues acting suspiciously. So he decides to investigate and ends up getting in a shoot out with them, killing one in the process. After a little digging he finds out that the man who was killed was actually believed to have been killed in action in Honduras something he tries to tell the authorities but is dismissed. Little do they know that this ties into a plot lead by a former U.S. Specials Forces Colonel by the name of William Stuart as he and his team sever communication between the planes above, and the ground, hack into the air control systems, and turn off the runway lights meaning none of the planes are able to land (including the one Holly is on). Their intents? To rescue a drug cartel leader, and dictator, General Ramon Esperanza, who is on a plane heading to the U.S. under custody in order to stand trial and they demand for a getaway plane, and warn the airport to not restore the power. So now with the odds stacked up against him once again, John must once again try and take these guys down before it’s too late!
Yes I do acknowledge that this is one of those sequels that has a very similar plot as the original film (McClane gets caught up in a situation involving terrorists), only this time with a change in setting which in this case is an airport. This was a common thing for sequels of that era to do such as Home Alone II, Ghostbusters II, Beverly Hills Cop II, etc. yet I unlike some of those films I feel like Die Harder works really well on it’s own terms and while I don’t think it’s on the level of the original it still manages to add just enough new in it’s story to make it not feel like a complete carbon copy. Whereas in the first one he was basically all on his own in terms of fighting off the terrorists now he actually does get some help from a number of places which adds in a couple of fun dynamics to the proceedings and there are actually quite a few well constructed twists, and turns here and there as well which help make this one a little different from it’s predecessor. The stakes are also raised quite a bit as even more people are held hostage, and the body count is even bigger than before (thanks to a shocking mid film incident that really did show that the movie wasn’t messing around) which makes the proceedings very investing to watch unfold and there is once again a lot of tension throughout as we see John fight, and figure out his way through a bunch of dangerous scenarios. Plus most importantly it is all very exciting to watch and it always managed to hold my attention even if it has it’s fair share of issues. It still follows some similar plot beats as the original, and I felt they went a little overboard in terms of the authorities being very distrustful of McClane as it’s not that I think they shouldn’t be completely suspicious or unsure, but it almost becomes unintentionally comedic in how the police chief of the airport is always trying to disprove him even with everything that’s unfolding and it just got repetitive after a while. Yet warts and all I still do appreciate that this one didn’t try to imitate Die Hard altogether and take the story in a couple of neat directions at the very least.
While John McTiernan did not come back to direct this one, Renny Harlin who also did the Sylvester Stallone actioner which has a lot of similarities to Die Hard, Cliffhanger, does a nice job shooting some the action here. He’s able to craft some really exciting, and well done sequences that don’t feel like they’re complete re hashes of the ones in the original and due to the larger scope there’s a bit more variety. There are of course plenty of fun shoot outs, and Harlin handles the more suspenseful scenes well and is able to make some seemingly ridiculous scenes like when John parachutes his way out of an exploding airplane fun to watch as we see how John is desperately trying to get out of a given predicament. However my favorite of them is probably the snowmobile chase right before the climax of the movie as it’s exciting, well shot, and doesn’t feel like it’s copying something from the new one, although the climactic airplane tussle is pretty darn entertaining as well with a great, explosive pay off. Also one thing in particular that I noticed with this one is just how it’s a lot more violent than the original. Now I know Die Hard is an franchise R-rated but this one really does take advantage of that rating focusing on each person getting shot, and having some pretty brutal kills thrown in the mix (there’s a scene where John literally stabs a guy’s eye with an icicle for goodness sakes). It was one of more notable things I noticed when I first saw it and is another way in which this one stands out from it’s predecessor.
As for the cast, and characters here well everyone does a solid job with what they’re given for the most part. Bruce Willis is once again great in this role as once again he plays John like the everyman who gets involved in a really terrible situation though he’s still able to use his wits, and experience to navigate around everything and he’s always someone I love to root for. I also appreciate how this movie still understands the McClane character and shows how he’s still human and tries his best to do the right thing, and try to help other no matter what and some of the best scenes in the movie involve him trying to help save an airliner filled with people from landing before it’s too late, and the aftermath when he fails and how that affects him emotionally, and blames himself for what happened. It’s scenes like that that show why he’s one of the great action heroes in his relatability, and what he does to help out those who need it. A handful of other characters from the first do make an appearance here like Reginald VelJohnson’s Al Powell who makes a fun little cameo, and Bonnie Bedella as Mollie whose in the plane for the majority of the feature as we see her, and everyone onboard slowly figure out what happens, and she also gets involved in a side plot involving William Atherton’s reporter character from the original whose pretty much a moron and these interludes don’t really add a whole lot although it is fun to see him get his comeuppance in the end. Then there are the new players and I enjoyed most of them though like I said before the authorities were a little too much this time around, especially Denis Franz as Captain Carmine Lorenzo, whose over the top performance may be amusing at times and there is a great joke involving his brother but his constant doubting of McClane gets repetitive quickly and I thought Fred Dalton Thompson’s Air traffic flight director was a much better authority figure that fit the movie better I felt. Meanwhile I did enjoy some of the other smaller supporting character like the chief engineer, Leslie Barnes (Art Evans), and the janitor that helps John find his way around the airport, Marvin (Tom Bower), and heck I even liked how the news reporter, Samantha Coleman (Sheila McCarthy) played into things. Now then there’s the big bad of the feature, William Sadler’s William Stuart, and unfortunately he’s among the weaker villain’s of the franchise despite Sadler’s best efforts and a huge downgrade from Hans Gruber. While I appreciate that they didn’t try to copy that character he still doesn’t leave much of an impact as he’s fairly two dimensional and he doesn’t get to interact with John a whole lot so the hero villain dynamic just isn’t there all that much. Sure he does do a lot of horrible things but this is a case where the character’s actions are more noteworthy than the character himself. To be honest I actually found the side baddies to be more interesting like Franco Nero gets a solid character introduction as the General himself, and John Amos was a lot of fun as Major Grant, the leader of the team of mercenaries sent to help out, though it is revealed that they are actually in cahoots with Stuart. I thought that twist was handled very nicely, and was a bit of a surprise plus on a side note it was amusingly ironic that the one guy McClane actually seems to get along with turns out to be evil. And besides weak main villain aside there were more characters that I liked than I didn’t which is always a net positive.
In the end Die Hard 2: Die Harder is a very solid sequel to an action movie classic that doesn’t always hit it’s target due to some familiar plot beats, some really distracting authority figures, some pointless subplots, and a weak villain, but it still gets credit for not completely re hashing the original, adding some new dynamics to the fray, having a lot of exciting action, strong performances, and still understanding the character of John McClane. I think that it deserves more attention as while it’s not my favorite of the bunch it still is highly entertaining does enough interesting things with the formula to warrant a watch. Funny enough though it is actually the only one of the sequels to have a similar plot as the first one as each of the others does something different (with varying results). So that’s about it when for Die Harder and join me next time when I take a look at McTiernan’s return to the series with Die Hard With a Vengeance and boy what a return it is!
Rating: B+
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