Live Free or Die Hard ***1/2
Cast: Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long, Maggie Q, Kevin Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Director: Len Wiseman
Running Length: 2:10
MPAA Classification: PG-13

When cyberterrorist Thomas Gabriel (Olyphant) begins to take down America’s computer systems, John McClane (Willis) gets the call from his superiors to pick up programmer Matt Farrell (Long). Farrell has some idea of what Gabriel has done, and all of Farrell’s colleagues have been killed. Farrell is the last hope to stop Gabriel. Of course, McClane is not the only one out to find him. Gabriel’s goons are looking to finish him off before he can be of any help to the authorities. McClane foils their plans repeatedly, and as Farrell gets closer to shutting Gabriel down, Gabriel kidnaps McClane’s daughter Lucy (Winstead) to use as leverage. Of course, putting McClane’s family members in danger has never really worked well for terrorists before.

After twelve years, John McClane is back. He is a older and a bit more hardened, but it is good to see him again. I forgot how much I liked the “Die Hard” movies, and seeing McClane again was like seeing an old friend. Bruce Willis still seems at home playing him, and I have a feeling that this movie will breathe new life into the franchise. Olyphant is good as the bad guy, and Long gets the job done as the sidekick, although he may have a hard time living down those Mac commercials. The story is scary enough to make you worry it could happen, but over the top enough to just be a bit too ridiculous. All in all it is good fun though. Those worring about the PG-13 rating watering down this R-rated franchise should not worry. Nothing is lost. I highly recommend this film as one of the best action movies of the summer.