Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 82% (Critics) / 86% (Audience)
Directed By: Len Wiseman
Written By: Mark Bomback
Starring: Bruce Willis, Justin Long and Timothy Olyphant
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Synopsis: An old-fashioned cop emerges to foil a high-tech attack on the country’s computer infrastructure as Bruce Willis brings back one of the biggest action franchises in screen history. It’s been over a decade since audiences last saw New York cop John McClane (Willis), but now, as the world’s greatest criminal mastermind (Timothy Olyphant) attempts to cripple the entire country with an innovative act of technological terrorism, only one cop can insure that the integrity of the system stays intact. (Source)

The Good:
Bruce Willis can still seamlessly pull off the whole action hero gig unlike some of his contemporaries (The Governator looks like someone’s burly grandpa nowadays)). He slips back into the role of John McLane like it’s an old pair of comfy slippers. The Apple Computer Guy didn’t suck (which he is prone to do in almost every movie he appears in) which is a net positive in my opinion. Maggie Q‘s hotness is mindboggling and she was perfect as the femme fatale of the movie.

The Bad:
Movies like this really need a good bad guy and sadly Timothy Olyphant‘s cyber-terrorist is as frightening as a scoop of vanilla ice cream. He should have tried to channel some of the badassery he would eventually bring to the role of Raylan Givens in JUSTIFIED.

The Ugly:
I couldn’t help but think how much cooler this movie would have been if Sam Jackson had asked back to reprise his character, Zeus Carver, from the last Die Hard film. I can just hear him wising off to the lame bad guy, “Well, you can stick your well-laid plan up your well-laid ass, motherfucker!”, that would have been pure gold.

Final Verdict: In a sequel that hardly anyone was clamoring for, Bruce Willis was able to easily slip back into what has become his most well known character and he pull fit of without any hitches. Despite being saddled with an annoying sidekick and a less than memorable baddie, Willis’ John McClane is more than enough to make LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD worth watching. B