Die Hard turns 25 years old with its fifth installment, and Bruce Willis is still at the centre of the action as John McClane. This time, he’s in Russia helping his estranged CIA agent son, Jack (Jai Courtney), keep nuclear weapons away from some bad guys. A Good Day to Die Hard doesn’t even attempt to seduce you, delving right into successive action sequences that are loud and flashy without being particularly compelling. To say this movie has no plot is an understatement; we start with a brief exposition, which barely outlines an excuse for John’s trip to Russia in the first place. Of course, there’s the requisite amount of one-liners, along with a lot of unnecessary sentimentality as father and son bond over explosives.
This article appears in Feb 14-20, 2013.
