Sunday, March 30, 2008

Big Stupid Friday

First, a word about methodology: Ideally, we watch 3 Netflix DVDs a week - Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Preferably, a big stupid action movie on Friday, a comedy (modern or classic) on Saturday, and a classic or foreign film on Sunday (Sunday seems suited for something a little more serious; the drawback is that we often interrupt the movie to watch the new Simpsons).

Last Friday it was Die Hard III: Sin Verguenza. This Friday we decided to continue the streak with Live Free, Go Big, Stay Home or Die Hard IV. As you may recall, we wanted to see Cyril Raffaelli. To cut to the chase, he is barely in this movie. He has 4-6 stunts in 2 scenes. Why can't modern directors understand? People want more parkour. Much more.

In this version of the Die Hard franchise, Jon McClane has to help slacker hacker Justin Long prevent a hacker take over of America. Long, who should have been Seth Green's buddy in that other movie but wasn't, makes a nice foil for Willis.

Again, there are Euroweenie villains, car crashes, helicopters, and transportation issues (McClane always needs to get from point A to B through traffic jams of monumental proportions). The plot has as many holes as always - For ex: the villains have to shut down a power plant manually; it can't be done online. So when McClane defeats the onsite team, the head bad guy destroys the plant remotely. Um...

Also, the CGI car chases were not that impressive.

Never mind. While Justin Long is no Samuel L. Jackson, and there is almost no Cyril Raffaelli, this is a decent Die Hard. And even though Willis is looking pretty Michael Chiklis, I hope they make many more.

In conclusion: Kevin Smith is the Warlock!

1 comment:

mr. schprock said...

"Also, the CGI car chases were not that impressive."

Actually, Bev, they made a pretty big deal about their minimal use of CGI (if at all). That spectacular car flip in the tunnel, and Bruce Willis nailing a helicopter with his car -- all done the old fashion way, baby.

Now, I'm trying to figure out why you didn't watch this comedy on Saturday according to the plan.