bkwunder

Thank you Len Wiseman and Bruce Willis for an outstanding, traditional summer blockbuster action film! Live Free or Die Hard is a blast -- both literally and figuratively. This movie is action packed from beginning to end with clever writing and stunningly-effective cinematography.

Willis' Detective John McLane is every bit as effective (deadly and funny) as in the first Die Hard movie. Willis is simply outstanding. Justin Long is an excellent techie sidekick for Willis. Mary Elizabeth Winstead does an excellent job playing Detective McLane's daughter. Winstead channels the McLane fire and spirit in the heat of battle, but is also able to express love and care through some very lovely brown eyes.

Timothy Olyphant is the weak link here -- not convincing as the lead bad guy. His eyes simply do not betray the intelligence or gravitas one would expect in a high-tech criminal mastermind. His sidekick (and kick she does) Maggie Q is excellent as the no-nonsense martial arts killer. The other computer geeks on the bad guy's team perform well.

Kevin Smith is entertaining as one of the most talented geeks -- and was in my view under-utilized.

The stunts are fantastic. The cinematography is brilliant. The writing is terse and clever.

BRAVO!

This movie starts slowly but becomes quite engaging. It tackles the difficult question facing many expecting, but unwed couples -- abortion or not. Brad Rowe is excellent as the somewhat free-spirited son of a "traditional" family. Rachel Blanchard is outstanding as the "new age hippie chick" from a very broken home. Harvey Keitel is good as the frustrated father who sees his son in trouble, but can't do anything to help him -- because the son doesn't want his help. As the movie goes on the character development is quite good and I found myself genuinely interested in all of them. The movie is well-written and well-acted. I recommend it.