Die Hard with a Vengeance

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

On a summer morning in New York City, a bomb detonates destroying the Bonwitt Teller department store. Later, a man calling himself “Simon” phones Major Case Unit Inspector Walter Cobb of the New York City Police Department, claiming responsibility for the bomb. He demands that suspended police officer Lt. John McClane (Bruce Willis) be dropped in Harlem, wearing a sandwich board that says “I hate Niggers”. Harlem shop owner Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson) spots McClane and tries to get him off the street before he is killed, but a gang of black youths attack the pair, who barely escape. Returning to the station, they learn that Simon is believed to have stolen several gallons of a bi-chemical agent explosive. Simon calls again demanding McClane and Carver put themselves through a series of “games” to prevent more explosions.

McClane and Carver are instructed by Simon to travel to Wall Street station 90 blocks south, within 30 minutes to stop a bomb planted on a Brooklyn-bound 3 train. McClane succeeds in locating and throwing the bomb off the train but it detonates, causing the rear car on the train to derail, demolishing many of the station’s support columns. FBI agents tell McClane that Simon is Simon “Peter” Gruber (Jeremy Irons), brother of the Hans Gruber killed by McClane in the first film. The agents believe Simon wants revenge on McClane for his brother’s death. During the debriefing, Simon calls again claiming that another bomb is planted in one of the city schools, and is sensitive to police radio signals. As McClane and Carver are forced to complete more riddles to identify the school, the police organize a citywide search of schools, and shut down the police radio band.

While playing at Simon’s games a chance remark by a shoplifter makes McClane realize that they are being distracted to keep them away from Wall Street, and Simon’s revenge motive is a cover for a heist. Returning downtown, he finds Simon’s men disguised as policemen and security guards have raided the Federal Reserve Bank and made off with $140 billion of gold bullion in 14 stolen dump trucks. After killing Simon’s henchmen at the bank, McClane trails the dump trucks to an aqueduct in the New York City Water Tunnel No. 3, capturing one of the trucks, but Simon destroys a cofferdam flooding the tunnel; McClane is thrown clear and regroups with Carver. They continue to follow the dump trucks to a tanker, but are captured attempting to board. The police locate and attempt to evacuate the school they think the bomb is in (which is the one Carver’s nephews attend), but McClane and Carver find that Simon has instead used the remaining explosive to rig the tanker to explode, which would send the gold to the bottom of the sea. Simon leaves the tanker, leaving McClane and Carver tied up next to the bomb, but they manage to escape the doomed ship just before it detonates.

As they regroup with the police and have their wounds tended to, McClane theorizes that there was no gold on the ship, which ultimately proves correct as it was replaced with scrap metal, and Simon has likely escaped. While phoning to make amends with his estranged wife Holly, McClane realises an aspirin bottle given to him earlier by Simon gives an address in a bordertown of Quebec. McClane alongside the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raid the warehouse where Simon and his men are preparing to distribute the gold. Simon escapes in a helicopter, attempting to shoot McClane from the air, but McClane shoots a power line which hits the helicopter and destroys it. Carver joins McClane and convinces him to finish his call to Holly at a nearby pay phone.

REVIEW:

The third film in the Die Hard franchise takes us someplace new…away from Christmas! Yes, film fans, Die Hard with a Vengeance finally has our anti-hero, John McClane nearly getting killed trying to save the day on a day other than December 25th, but is it worth watching?

Having seen what thing guy can do in the previous films, one has to wonder what else can they do to him? Well, how about we bring in a sadistic, Riddler type villain, who just happens to be the brother of the antagonist from the first film? Couple that with explosive mixtures and a plot to steal the gold from the New York Federal Exchange Bank.

Other than that, things are pretty much the same. McClane is just doing his thing, but gets roped into being the hero by no fault of his own. Well, this time, the crooks actually ask for him specifically. It is his “reluctant partner” who gets roped in by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but still wanting to do the right thing.

The action is what you would expect from this franchise, which is a good thing in this case. Other than the riddles and explosions, I was actually a little disappointed, though. It seemed like they were trying to do something the first two didn’t, but for some reason, it felt like they should have been following the formula set forth by its predecessors. I know that sounds a bit confusing, but there it is. I can totally see these soldiers holding up somewhere and keeping hostages, one of which is McClane who is going to end up saving the day.

All in all, Die Hard with a Vengeance is a pretty good film. Is it the best in the franchise? I won’t go that far, but it is pretty good. From what I hear, it is far better than the one that follows. If you’re looking for that mixture of fun, comedy, violence, and romance, well, you’ll get most of it here, with the exception fo the romance. Give it a shot sometime!

3 1/2 out of 5 stars