Lavonardo

Watched the not really expected fourth part of the venerable Die Hard saga. The naming of the movie is questionable, while the print showed the “Die Hard 4.0″-name on screen, all the US media seem to be using the old name still. Like the recently sighted Ocean’s Thirteen this movie turned oout to be a really good summer movie – lots of flash, but not utterly devoid of cerebral matter either (unlike the latest Spiderman and Pirates installments).

The movie takes a while to get going – the first ten minutes aren’t really quality entertainment, but once the director gets comfortable, the viewers are in on a rollicking ride. A ride that remains credible for the most part of the show, barring a few stretches straight out of True Lies, this could pretty much have been an extended episode of 24.

Bruce Willis plays the aging John McClane to a hilt – spewing one-liners with precision, whilst getting shot, hit, skewered by flying glass and all around walking wounded. Justin Long, as the hacker sidekick is far less annooying than expected, and the hacker culture altogether is rather drawn without major snapping of disbelief (albeit drawn with a really big brush). Kevin Smith’s über-geek Warlock is saddled with too many cliches for comfort, but like Willis and Timothy Olyphant (yeah, the Deadwood guy) he fits his part like a glove.

Lots of screentime is given to product placement – Nokia phones and communicators are frequently seen, and Gears of War makes it on screen twice.

Those wondering where the hacker guy is familiar: he’s the Mac in Apple’s television ads. And those wondering what’s the song playing when McClane enters Farrell’s apartment: no clue (Flyleaf sounds about right when looking at the choices on the soundtrack).

As a conclusion: easily the best in the series since the original adventure at Nakatomi Plaza, and a very good summer movie on its own. Wouldn’t bet on part 5 ever appearing, but if the quality remains on this level – further episodes certainly wouldn’t hurt.

After the disaster that was Ocean’s Twelve a couple of years back, I didn’t have such high hopes for the newest installment. But was disappointed, in the best pessimistic kind of way – the third part of the franchise turned out to be a great movie.

You see, this time the ensemble had an actual script to build up from, and not just some ad-hoc scenes crafted on Clooney’s villa in Lake Como. That’s right – this time there’s a properly planned and executed heist, not a plotless tale camouflaged behind cameoing stars.

And the plot actually works well, and the guys of Danny Ocean’s team (Julia Roberts has fortunately been excised from the troupe) have to actually use their skills instead of lounging through Europe. But the team is not equally used – Don Cheadle gets criminally little screen time, and way too much is given out to a peculiar factory liberation subplot in Mexico.

The pacing varies, as does the level of exposition – every plot device is not spelled out explicitly. The planning coasts along for ages, causing the actual operation to feel rushed at the end. Dialogue is also much improved from the previous part – while there’s little to approach the quality of the first installment, this time the repartee is not cringe-inducing.

Al Pacino, as the guest villain of the episode overdoes his act a couple of times, but Ellen Barkin gets the top mark as his overbearing lieutenant.

Best summer movie thus far – and the latecomers have a fight in their hands to outdo this. And the latest Pixar film, Ratatouille has done extremely well reviews-wise.

Fourteen? And the first ten chapters as prequels? If the quality remains on this level, I wouldn’t mind…

(And sure, I seriously, overrated the Twelve back in the day. Must have been the christmassy feeling instilled by copious amounts of mulled wine. Downgrade to two stars, please.)