Live Free or Die Hard

July 2, 2007 - Bruce Willis is back for another go-round as NYPD detective and all-around badass John McClane. Bonnie Bedelia is a no-show in this one, but Mary Elizabeth Winstead (from the short-lived TV show Wolf Lake) provides the family connection as McClane's daughter, Lucy. Justin Long (from the TV show Ed) is the one who helps McClane save the world.

Long plays Matt Farrell, a computer hacker. When things start to go FUBAR with the government's computer systems, Farrell is a suspect and McClane is assigned to pick him up in Camden and take him to the feds in DC for questioning. Sounds easy enough - until men with lots of guns start shooting lots of bullets into Farrell's apartment.

McClane and Farrell manage to make it to DC, only to find that traffic lights have gone haywire and the city is in complete gridlock (irony, anyone?). Spectacular chase scenes ensue. McClane and Farrell then end up at a natural gas facility in West Virginia where more spectacular stunts take place. Finally, with some help from Kevin Smith, they save the country and keep everyone from going broke. All that's left is to clean up the mess.

Overall review: *** It's been a long time since Die Hard: With a Vengeance and, quite honestly, that's the forgettable one of the bunch. So, it almost feels like McClane's been gone since Die Hard 2 in 1990. Now, he's a little more forlorn and a little more cynical. But, the most cynical people can also be the most idealistic, and McClane is that, too. Oh, by the way, he still kicks ass!

My only complaints are: 1) the movie felt a little on the long side; 2) a lot of people hit a lot of computer keys very fast without making a mistake; and 3) the famous "Die Hard" line of "Yippee-ki-yay, motherf***er" is uttered only once, and incompletely at that, as a sacrifice for a PG-13 rating. Let's hope for a director's cut.