Trailer Trashin’: John McClane Returns in A Good Day to Die Hard

In recent years, the January/February action movie has become something of a tradition in Hollywood. In a time of year usually full of Oscar contenders, an entertaining bit of action fluff can clean up at the box office. And this year, Valentine’s Day weekend sees the release of a new entry in one of Hollywood’s most beloved action franchises. Let’s take a look at the third trailer for A Good Day to Die Hard.

Premise: Take-no-prisoners cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) finds himself on foreign soil for the first time after traveling to Moscow to help his seemingly wayward son Jack (Jai Courtney) – unaware that Jack is really a CIA operative out to stop a nuclear weapons heist. With the Russian underworld in pursuit, and battling a countdown to war, the two McClanes discover that their opposing methods make them unstoppable heroes.

My take: I don’t think anyone will disagree with me that Die Hard (1988) is one of the greatest action movies ever made. It launched the movie career of Bruce Willis, and provided the “inspiration” for dozens of subsequent action films. The original movie was followed by two good sequels in Die Hard 2 (1990) and Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995). After a decade-plus break, the franchise returned with Live Free or Die Hard (2007), which was, by most accounts, better than anyone had expected. Now, Bruce Willis is back as John McClane for a fifth time in A Good Day to Die Hard. This is the third and presumably final trailer for the movie, and I think it looks pretty damn fun.

Obviously, the linchpin of the Die Hard franchise is Bruce Willis as John McClane, and he looks as cool as ever here. Willis brings so much charisma and working-stiff charm to this character that he is just incredibly fun to watch. Anyone who’s seen Jai Courtney as Varro in Spartacus: Blood and Sand knows what a badass he can be, and I think his character of Jack McClane will be a good counterpart/sidekick to Willis. Col Hauser, who previously acted alongside Willis in Hart’s War (2002) and Tears of the Sun (2003), plays a villain named Collins, who looks smug enough that seeing him get his comeuppance will probably be very satisfying. Other villains are Sebastian Koch as Komorov and Yuliya Snigir as Irina; this will be my first time seeing them in a movie, which I’m sure is true for a lot of other people. And although she not in this trailer, I’m glad that Mary Elizabeth Winstead is reprising her role as Lucy McClane, John’s daughter, from Live Free or Die Hard.

The action on display here is really impressive. I love the moment with the line of parked cars blowing up, especially since it’s so perfectly timed to “Ode to Joy.” We’ve got gunfire and car crashes galore. I’m digging the scene where John and Jack are running through the building while the Hind gunship helicopter is blasting at them from outside. And that extended final shot with them falling through the roof and into the pool while the chopper crashes behind them is just awesome.

Admittedly, the behind-the-camera talent on the project might give some people pause. John Moore previously directed Flight of the Phoenix (2004), The Omen (2006), and Max Payne (2008), all of which were pretty mediocre. However, he also made Behind Enemy Lines (2001), which I actually liked, and I don’t think the failings of his other films can be laid entirely at his feet. The involvement of writer Skip Woods gets me somewhat excited, because he was one of the writers on The A-Team (2010), which I absolutely loved. Of course, Woods was also the sole writer on Hitman (2007) and one of the writers on X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), but I think the way those films ended up was more the fault of Tom Rothman and the other Fox executives. Ultimately, I’m willing to give these two gentlemen the benefit of the doubt.

But as cool as a lot of this looks, there are a few things that give me slight pause. All signs point to the story being pretty thin, although that’s pretty much been the case for every Die Hard film except the first and third one. I also really hope they keep any father-son conflict between the McClanes to a minimum – it would be a real bummer if we have to watch Willis and Courtney argue with each other before they settle their differences in the third act and kick ass together. And while I appreciate that they’re maintaining the smattering of humor the previous films have had, I hope the filmmakers don’t let things get silly or farcical.

But when you get down to it, sometimes this kind of over-the-top fun is exactly what you want in an action movie. We’ve got a great lead character, a talented supporting cast, and some kick-ass action – sounds like the perfect thing to watch while munching some popcorn in a theater on a cold winter day. While it’s not going to reach the same heights as the original film, this looks like it could be a worthy addition to the Die Hard series. Come this Valentine’s Day weekend, there’s a good chance that I’ll be checking out A Good Day to Die Hard.

ANTICIPATION: I think going to see this could definitely be a “good day.”

Release Date: February 14^th, 2013

Starring: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Cole Hauser, Sebastian Koch, Yuliya Snigir, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Amaury Nolasco, Pavel Lychnikoff, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Anne Vyalitsyna, and Ivan Kamaras
Director: John Moore
Writer: Skip Woods