I am a huge fan of Bruce Willis, and most of that has do with his portrayal of John McClane. McClane is one of the best movie action heroes, so I was hopeful but worried about Live Free or Die Hard. Hopeful because it was the return of one of my favourite characters, and worried because I thought they might “update” (read: “ruin”) him. Thankfully, my fears were mostly unfounded.

Live Free Or Die Hard has a plot that is pretty absurd, so absurd that I won’t even get into it. But the plot doesn’t matter: the movie’s about McClane getting the crap beat out of him and saving the day, and the movie does that very well. Willis seems like he’s having a lot of fun with the role, and he mostly seems like the same old John McClane, except maybe a little older and a little more gruff. Justin “I’m A Mac” Long is a good choice for the hacker sidekick; aside from having instant cred from the commercials, he balances Willis’s battle-weary cop nicely. (Although I did mis Al. Seriously, would a cameo have killed anyone?) And speaking of cameos, Kevin Smith was funny but kind of out of place: when he was on screen I found myself thinking, “Hey, Kevin Smith!” It took me out of the movie at times, but it’s not a fatal flaw.

The stunts get progressively more and more ridiculous, until by the end they were stretching my suspended disbelief. Note to Len ”Underworld” Wiseman, McClane’s 50 years old now: he’s tough, but he’s not that tough. A few ridiculous moments aside, Live Free or Die Hard was fun and exciting, and a great popcorn movie to watch with the action movie lover in your life.

Only John McClaine can take out a helicopter with a car and still be a lovable character. This movie was GREAT. If you like action films, this is brilliant – from beginning to end, the pace barely lets up. I loved it.

The first half of the movie is a tad boring, focusing mostly on plot points, but once it gets going the action sequences are very enjoyable and some downright amazing. It’s enjoyable if not Die Hard good.

The John McClain character was as great as ever, Bruce Willis is HOT, the fight sequences were like watching a video game and Kevin Smith did an EXCELLENT cameo as “The Wizard” cyber-geek living in his mom’s Baltimore basement with a CB radio set to frequency “666” but mostly I found it boring.

A self-aware Die Hard movie makes for a topnotch dumb action movie. Really funny and slightly over the top, Live Free or Die Hard is worth watching for action fans. Implausible plot, but Bruce and sidekick Justin Long were entertaining. The villain was not intimidating at all, but he was fairly funny too. Director Len Wiseman did a excellent job creating a solid summer popcorn flick.