That's What We Do

It was a good day to spend Valentine. Rather than eating chocolates, we got to see John McClane himself in his biggest action yet in yippie-ki-yay Mother Russia! I watched Die Hard trilogy on TV (I wasn't even born when With A Vengeance came out) and fun fact, I first learned the word 'vengeance' from the third film's title; like the first time ever I saw that word. I enjoyed the trilogy--back then, my favorite was the third, but when I revisited them, I got to say the first one was crazy intense. I may be one of the few who actually loved Live Free or Die Hard with its bombastic, over-the-top-of-the-top action that may have confused John McClane with Ethan Hunt. Plus, the fifth one is one of those Hollywood films that arrived on time in Japan. It's big for me. And I'm on spring break. And there's no other movies in Japan. No Warm Bodies, no Hansel & Gretel, hell there's even no Nic Sparks' film for Valentine!

The story is that Jack McClane (Jai Courtney-the assassin from Jack Reacher) is apparently some covert CIA agent in Russia and is in prison (hmm, similar to that film with the spectacular set piece in Burj Dubai). John McClane Senior isnt aware that his son is the 007 of Plainfield, New Jersey, so he flew to Russia to help his son. There he immediately found himself in trouble involving some conspiracy within two partners that implicates Chernobyl. Yep that's the whole story. It's that simple and short.

When I saw the 97-minute-running time on IMDb, I was a bit disappointed. But then I would still give it a go. After I saw the whole film, I didn't know how to feel. The story is quite good but is still able to be explored more. That's a shame. The story has an unforeseen twist and that's nice but then it does not live up to the potential. It's also a shame that Sebastian Koch (The Lives of Others) is wasted like that. He could be a more entertaining, [spoiler alert!] heinous villain in so many ways. The secondary villain--Alik, the dancer--is also wasted. He already had the template of a crazy villain but then--kaput. Also, it's a shame that the relationship between McClane Senior and Junior is barely touched. The film did try to explore that but if you want to be entertained by metaphor, a suitable one would be: the scientist only made a hypothesis without conducting an experiment to prove it. The film is also a waste of the R-rated rating with only a bit of blood splatters, some use of the word 'fuck' and only two uses of mo-fo, that already includes John McClane's 'how you doin'?'(read: catchphrase)

There are many logic issues like driving overnight from Russia to Ukraine, and the comfort of finding the exact car (and stealing the exact keys to it) that has shotguns and leather jackets and also exposing your body to radiation in Chernobyl. The action scenes are sometimes good and sometimes boring. To be honest, there are only few scenes of action. Mostly it's just John McClane and son shooting random things and avoiding to be killed like jumping from buildings and windows. The whole film felt like destruction porn. Maybe it wants to compete with The Matrix Reloaded's highway of hell scene. John McClane himself destroyed so many cars just as he landed in Russia, not to mention the villain who wants to 'fly', he destroyed more. Nevertheless, the action managed to be entertaining. Although John Moore's direction is annoyingly chop-chop and desperately wanted to be gritty, it's not as bad as Taken 2. Bruce Willis may be the only 80's/90's action hero that is still relevant doing this kind of crazy thing. He did his best as John McClane but, again, the script prevents him from doing his usual antics. Jai Courtney is definitely the next Sam Worthington, he's good. For the sixth entry, may I suggest bringing back Len Wiseman? Wiseman is a toned-down Michael Bay and his direction fits Die Hard 4.0 nicely. Or just have Michael Bay for the next one; surely it would be the most badass and explosion-filled Die Hard ever made. And give Bonnie Bedelia a cameo please. I'd like to see the complete McClane family. A Good Day to Die Hard may hit a franchise low but surely it embraces the 'die hard' title. This movie is just for fun. A Good Day to Die Hard: rated 2.5/4

BONUS!

As I have promised, let me throw in shorties of Gangster Squad, Mama and double bonus: Zero Dark Thirty in this post!

1. Gangster Squad

A super cool, stylized gangster drama and action courtesy of the Zombieland director. However, cool doesn't make up for the lack of the story. The premise does promise a great film, yes but more drama between the multiple protagonists may do some good. Maybe more screen time for Gosling and Stone would do some good too. The cast is amazing as promised. The film is kinda worth waiting for after the delay but still the story is the biggest problem here. But I'd watch it again just to see how cool this film is. Last word, does the slow-mo machine gun battle reminds you of the first Community paintball? Or is it just me? Gangster Squad or in Japan called L.A. Gang Story: rated 2.5/4

2. Mama

I guess it's a must for every actress to star in a horror film someday in her career. Jennifer Lawrence already did in the thank-God-it-is-a-good-one-and-I-loved-it House at the End of the Street and now it's Jessica Chastain's turn. I guess looking at Chastain's filmography so far, it's a safe bet that Mama is not going to disappoint and it's produced by Guillermo Del Toro. I'm so hooked. And yes, right from the start it's already intriguing. Starting with the twin Jaime Lannisters and creepy kids, it's the real horror film unlike those found footage films. Jessica Chastain is kinda hot in her different look here. The film is largely dependent on scares and sound effects but the actual scary bit is maybe one or two. That's what you get with PG-13 I guess. Mama:rated 3/4.

3. Zero Dark Thirty.

Kathryn Bigelow's latest. An Oscar nom. An Oscar snub. Jessica Chastain is so cool here. The movie is amazing. The last 30 minutes is just the most intense moment you could have while watching a film. The supporting cast is also nice with Kyle Chandler and Mark Strong to name a few. I cannot say anything more. The Academy totally snubbed Bigelow. Also I'd pick Zero Dark Thirty over Argo for Best Picture. Ben Affleck could have the Best Director (if he's nominated) but ZDT for Best Picture. It's just crazy good. Ah-MAY-zing! Zero Dark Thirty: definitely four out of four.