Die Hart

I didn't even crack a smile. Just a bunch of goofs...blah blah blah. This is what legendary actors are doing now? Yikes.

"Die Hart" is a 'series' that was made for the Quibi streaming service, where the shows are meant to be watched on your smartphone when you're on the go, so the episodes are all under 9 minutes. There are some funny moments, but this is one of several Quibi shows that doesn't feel quite like a series or quite like a movie, being lost somewhere in the middle. Actually, "Die Hart" borrows generously from comedies from two decades ago. John Travolta shines in his role and looks like a different actor than we have been accustomed to and it gives him a new energy, while Kevin Hart plays his usual character - aloof and oblivious. The end result doesn't feel like a complete project, as much as spending the day watching clips on YouTube from a movie that you're not sure you want to pay to see in its entirety. I do know, I will not be re-watching this.

Rating: 5

Originally shown as minisodes. Amazon has turned the original streaming series to a movie.

Die Hart does not have much of an original premise. Michael J Fox played an actor who tags along with a cop in The Hard Way. In Showtime, Eddie Murphy and Robert de Niro are cops in a reality television show.

In Die Hart, Kevin Hart plays a comic variation of himself. He's had enough of being a sidekick in comedies. He wants to be an action star despite his short stature.

However a meltdown on live television threatens to send his career dwindling. However an offer from action director Claude Van De Velde (Jean Reno) is too good to pass up.

Hart goes goes to a training camp in the remote wilderness to be taught to be an action star by Ron Wilcox (John Travolta.) Hart is later joined by actress Jordan King (Nathalie Emmanuel.)

Hart does not like Wilcox and is suspicious of him. That Wilcox has fallen out with some gangsters. Hart also thinks that he is being filmed.

Later actor Josh Hartnett drops by extolling the virtues of Wilcox as an action tutor.

Die Hart is rather predictable, slightly amusing. It was agreeable without any major surprises. Travolta was fun.

If it was made now, the real bullet gun scenes would be cut in light of the Alec Baldwin affair.

Not full on funny but it is entertaining enough. Interesting storyline. JT was a surprise and made the show.

Kevin Hart states that this series is about him playing a version of himself who doesn't want to be portrayed as a sidekick comedy charachter. However it only goes to prove that these are the only characters he is capable of playing.

The premise is pretty interesting, as it focuses on an actor who is successful in certain types of roles, but wishes to become a stand alone action hero. In order to achieve this he attends an action hero school where everything is not as it seems.

Based on this plot there are so many ways this could have been a unique and interesting show, but there is no depth or imagination and each episode feels like an 8 minute long trailer for a low budget action film you do not want to see.

The saving grace of this project is that each episode is only 8 minutes long.