Dead On Arrival

This is basically one long rant, so if it doesn't make a lot of sense, forgive me.

This past Thursday, “A Good Day To Die Hard” was released, the fifth installment in the Die Hard movie series. Initially I was excited to see a new Die Hard movie, after the lackluster “Live Free Or Die Hard”.  Now, I have not seen the new movie, and unfortunately I won't be seeing it until it is released on video.

I normally do not go by what critics say about movies, a topic I'll cover another time. But the one time I put any merit onto what critics say is when they almost all say a movie is terrible. Currently “A Good Day To Die Hard” sits at 16% on Rotten Tomatoes. I also know people who have seen it and said it was, in a word...awful. Needless to say, that is extremely disappointing, as I am a huge fan of the first three Die Hard movies.

Part of Die Hard's appeal, is the character of John McClane,  a normal guy always being thrown into extreme situations, he doesn't always have the answers, and sometimes barely escapes being killed. But he's resourceful and clever, and that's what gets him through. Also, he's not indestructible. At least he didn't used to be. He used to walk away from things battered, cut, bruised and bloodied.

In “Live Free Or Die Hard” he never really seemed to be in a lot of danger, even when he was in dangerous situations, he was turning into a super hero. That's not what John McClane is.

Well, it seems as if the new movie is keeping the same idea, that he is a super hero, that has to vanquish the bad guys at all costs....even when he has no stake in the events, and can just walk away.

This is just another example of Hollywood coasting on name recognition. Seriously, the director of the new movie has the classic “Max Payne” and the needless remake of “The Omen” on his resume. So I guess that Die Hard is now gonna be played out like a video game. What's next? Are they gonna remake the first Die Hard with Zac Efron in the lead role? From what I understand, they couldn't get any worse at this point.

Word is that Die Hard 6 is already being planned. I don't know if that's good or bad. On one hand, hearing how bad the new movie is, you'd think they could only improve with the next one. But never underestimate Hollywood, cause just when you think it can't get worse, it does,

Here's an idea...keep it simple. The First movie was a guy, terrorists, hostages, and bad guys in a building. The second was an airport. OK the third was in New York City, but it still worked because of the strong cast and competent direction. They need to get back to the simplicity of the Die Hard formula. I guess they figured having McClane running around NYC in “Die Hard With A Vengeance”, worked, so they went with that free roaming in “Live Free Or Die Hard”. Keep the story contained, give McClane an honest reason to be involved, and put the guy in some real danger. Even though we know the hero always gets away, at least make us FEEL like there's a chance he may not.

Why does Hollywood always do this? Take something that was so good and make it....not good. This is my fear with Star Wars, I really hope they don't run it into the ground like they seem to have done with Die Hard. That's the problem, Hollywood doesn't know when to quit. Granted, with Star Wars, there are many more story possibilities, and what happens with that remains to be seen.

I get so frustrated with Hollywood sometimes. There are times when I think that they may actually be coming out of the lazy funk they seem to have been in for so long, and sometimes, for a short time, they do. But then they go right back into that creative black hole that always seems to suck them in. 2012 was actually a pretty good year for movies, something I will cover in another post. But with “A Good Day To Die Hard” 2013 isn't starting out too well, I just hope this isn't a sign of what's coming this year. The movie fanatic in me is hopeful that it isn't.