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Make the Bad Men Stop
Sep. 23rd, 2006 11:36 amAt long last, the film everyone's been waiting for: Die Hard 4!
*whimper*
Don't get me wrong. Die Hard is one of the best action movies ever made. Maybe *the* best. And the first sequel was pretty good. But like the new Rocky movie, this is a shameless attempt to resurrect a series far past its sell-by date.
The saddest thing about this kind of project is that it buries original material in stale, desperate packaging. Check out the plot description:
The story centers on an attack on the U.S.' computer infrastructure that begins to shut the country down. The mysterious figure behind the scheme has figured out every digital angle but never counts on an old-fashioned "analog" McClane.
Q will play a world-class hacker at odds with McClane. Long will play a smart, younger guy who assists McClane.
To review: John McClane was an ordinary cop who got stuck in a Christmas party with terrorists. Why, oh plot gods, *why* would he ever wind up being the sole opponent of an international cyberattack? America has people like Tom Cruise and James Bond to deal with that stuff. Leave the old cop alone! Let the pretty-boy "smart, younger guy" who is the logical hero in this situation have his day.
In other words, folks, this is an adapted script. Some poor screenwriter wrote a pretty good action script featuring hackers and was all excited when it was sold, only to be told "you know what's great about your original premise? We can cut large chunks out and force it into the pretzel shape of a new Die Hard movie!"
And that's just sad.
*whimper*
Don't get me wrong. Die Hard is one of the best action movies ever made. Maybe *the* best. And the first sequel was pretty good. But like the new Rocky movie, this is a shameless attempt to resurrect a series far past its sell-by date.
The saddest thing about this kind of project is that it buries original material in stale, desperate packaging. Check out the plot description:
The story centers on an attack on the U.S.' computer infrastructure that begins to shut the country down. The mysterious figure behind the scheme has figured out every digital angle but never counts on an old-fashioned "analog" McClane.
Q will play a world-class hacker at odds with McClane. Long will play a smart, younger guy who assists McClane.
To review: John McClane was an ordinary cop who got stuck in a Christmas party with terrorists. Why, oh plot gods, *why* would he ever wind up being the sole opponent of an international cyberattack? America has people like Tom Cruise and James Bond to deal with that stuff. Leave the old cop alone! Let the pretty-boy "smart, younger guy" who is the logical hero in this situation have his day.
In other words, folks, this is an adapted script. Some poor screenwriter wrote a pretty good action script featuring hackers and was all excited when it was sold, only to be told "you know what's great about your original premise? We can cut large chunks out and force it into the pretzel shape of a new Die Hard movie!"
And that's just sad.
