Live Free or Die Hard

John McClane is back and better than ever in "Live Free or Die Hard," the fourth installment of the "Die Hard" series. We've missed a true blockbuster action flick for some time now; this one fills you up with all of the right stuff and little or none of the bad. It has been over a decade since we've seen a truly decent action blockbuster and finally that stagnation period is over!

Bruce Willis kicks ass. Period. He is blown up, shot at, blown up again, thrown out of windows, thrown out of cars, thrown off of planes and then shot at again for good measure. In classic Die Hard fashion he prevails with a gritty, sour yet lovingly witty character. There is little time to take a breath in Die Hard 4; you are constantly and violently thrown into the next turbulent situation and love every minute of it. The plot doesn't include a lot of "fluff" and there are only a few main characters with well developed personalities--the combination adds to the blockbuster effectiveness of this movie. With so many contemporary "action" movies relying heavily on non-human CGI (computer generated image) animation, Die Hard takes you back to a time when one two people fight, they shoot at each other and have to dodge "real" bullets. There is some CGI in the film but it is kept to a minimum and well blended. The most important thing is that the action scenes (basically the entire movie), while still a bit outrageous, are still based around our universe's laws of physics.

The supporting cast, including the evil (and fantastically cold-blooded) Timothy Olyphant, the skittish computer genius Justin Long, and the Kung-Fu sadist Maggie Q does a great job of bringing this movie together for two heart pounding hours. As I mentioned above, there are really only a handful of main characters (four in this case) and all are developed well--adding greatly to the likability of the movie. There is only one plot, one story and that is exactly how the movie starts and ends.

Because I don't usually like to give away a movie in a review I will just say this as a brief (and very crude) overview: terrorists are using the internet to systematically shut down the United States and Bruce Willis gets involved to whoop their ass. Hopefully that helps.

The cinematography and direction of Die Hard 4 is as good as the rest. You wont get a brain hemorrhage from watching it but you certainly wont yawn or look away. This was the most entertaining two hours at the movies I've had in a long time.

For great summer blockbuster fun I highly suggest seeing "Live Free or Die Hard." At the tender age of 52, Bruce Willis still has what it takes to bring Detective John McClane to triumphant life. The movie gives you all of what you want and little of what you don't and in my book that deserves a full five "Mitch Heads." (Oh, and it is PG-13 rated too most of your family can share in the joy of explosions).

- Mitch G