Does Die Harder really mean that Die Hard 2 is better than the original action movie and is it a more fitting movie to watch during Christmas time, with more snow?
Die Hard 2
(USA 1990, director: Renny Harlin)
John McClane wants to pick up his wife from the Washington DC Airport, but runs into a group of terrorists who take control of the command center in order to rescue a drug lord.
Changing the formula of a successful action movie can often lead to disaster. While Die Hard 2 certainly doesn’t fit that category, it’s still something of a missed opportunity. The change in direction from having a much wider space to move about and the reliance on more people is one of the problems the sequel to the survival theme of Die Hard runs into. It doesn’t mean that it’s less suspenseful, but simply different. Of course the one-man-against-terrorists idea remains, but with an airport police and a whole special forces unit joining the party, it’s simply not the same.
The plot is much more nuanced than in the original, with a few surprising twists. The action is also quite good, but it lacks the inventiveness of McClane’s first encounters with terrorists, only seen in one escape from a soon-to-be-exploding plane. The terrorists themselves might be better organized, but they’re not as memorable as in the original, which might have something to do with the overall seriousness. Despite a few cameos from the first movie, the dialogues and the rest of the cast aren’t as enjoyable to listen to and watch.
Die Harder 2 is a good movie to watch once in a while or during Christmas time, as it has quite a lot of snow the original lacked. Unfortunately it doesn’t quite live up to what the first movie succeeded in. It has lots of action, but most of it is as forgettable as the dialogue. While the plot is more interesting, it’s simply not the same John McClane who single-handedly picked one terrorist after the other in an enclosed space.
Score: 7/10
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I think the second was good but they lost momentum after this one. I do love Die Hard though- Would appreciate it if you could check out my own 100 Word Review of it:
http://scribblesofstageandscreen.com/2015/12/24/die-hard-preserves-explosive-christmas-charm-100-word-review/
Thanks for your comment and will check out your review. 100 words sounds great and difficult to keep to, I think ;-). I partly agree with the following movies. I didn’t really like the fourth one, as it was too much and almost comic-book like action, but I loved the third one, as it was just perfect and was quite original in parts. Even though the newest one was very different, I thought it was still quite entertaining :-).
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