Blu-ray Review: ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’ May Kill Off Franchise

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CHICAGO – Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy can’t be blamed for the deteriorating state of modern action films any more than Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” can be held accountable for commercializing American cinema. Yet the spectacular box office performance of Nolan’s terrific series has naturally caused studios to misinterpret the root of their success.

Many tentpole attractions in 2013 have strained to emulate the grit and grimness of “The Dark Knight,” but have made no attempt to create an equally compelling story. The vast majority of screen time in Nolan’s “Batman” pictures was devoted to character development, with dialogue-driven set-pieces delivering nearly as many thrills as the ones involving explosions (kudos to the underrated screenwriting abilities of Nolan and his brother Jonathan). But since studio executives are too thick-headed, or simply too lazy, to realize that the power of “Dark Knight” was in its story, they’ve simply decided to make their mainstream blockbusters much, much darker—so dark that they refuse to crack a smile.

Blu-ray Rating: 1.0/5.0

Like Zack Snyder’s ear-busting bore, “Man of Steel,” John Moore’s “A Good Day to Die Hard” is emblematic of everything that is wrong with Hollywood these days. It takes a crowd-pleasing franchise and drains it of its appeal, transforming its once relatable, cheerfully unruffled protagonist into a cold-blooded killing machine devoid of a discernible personality. When John McClane (Bruce Willis) barks out would-be punchlines, he sounds like a crotchety old grump rather than a charismatic hero. It’s a shock to see Willis make his initial appearance, looking like he’s aged thirty years since Wes Anderson’s marvelous 2012 comedy, “Moonrise Kingdom.” The actor hasn’t looked this bored onscreen since “Cop Out,” and his detachment is apparent in every thudding line delivery and half-hearted expression. Yet he’s positively Brando-esque when compared to Jai Courtney (of “Spartacus” fame), who plays McClane’s troubled badass of a son. He has the look of a young Tom Hardy, but none of the magnetism. He just widens his eyes and sneers a lot, though the awful script by Skip Woods (“Swordfish”) admittedly gives him nothing to work with. First it confuses audiences with a needlessly complicated setup involving nuclear weapons thieves in Russia before settling back into a one-dimensional reconciliation between father and son, comprised of nothing but groan-inducing one-liners. The elder McClane also shouts the word “Jesus” about as many times as the characters in “Django Unchained” spew the N-word.

A Good Day to Die Hard was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 4th, 2013.
Photo credit: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Hopefully the phenomenal success of movies like “The Avengers” and “Fast & Furious 6” will alert studios to the fact that audiences still like to have fun at the movies and don’t just want to watch a bunch of sullen, monotone mannequins partaking in mind-numbing, soul-deadening action. There’s plenty of vehicular carnage in “Die Hard 5,” as well as that silly perfunctory scene used in so many recent blockbusters where characters crash through a window without any plan of how to break their fall. You know a film has failed to cast its spell when you watch characters take a risk like that, and your response is a mere, “Meh.”
 
“A Good Day to Die Hard” is presented in 1080p High Definition (with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio), accompanied by English, Spanish and French audio tracks and is available in a Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD combo pack. The exhaustive array of extras—including a commentary track with Moore and first assistant director Mark Cotone—covers everything from location scouting to color grading, but doesn’t devote any time to the screenplay, which is probably an accurate approximation of the time spent on it during production.

By MATT FAGERHOLM Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com matt@hollywoodchicago.com