Review: A Good Day to Die Hard

Yippee Ki-Yay or Yippee Kaput?

By Chris Sabga

Release Date: February 14, 2013 – U.S.

Rating: R

Genre: Action

Running Time: 98 minutes

Director: John Moore

Writers: Skip Woods, Roderick Thorp 

(certain original characters)

Cast: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, 

Sebastian Koch, Yuliya Snigir, Rasha Bukvic, 

Cole Hauser, Amaury Nolasco, 

Sergei Kolesnikov, Pasha D. Lychnikoff, 

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

2007's mind-numbingly mediocre "Live Free or Die Hard" managed to drag down Bruce Willis, the usually electrifying Timothy Olyphant, and the entire "Die Hard" series. That fourth movie was one sequel too many. Does the fifth and latest installment – "A Good Day to Die Hard" – restore the blockbuster franchise to its former glory? Not quite, but it deserves points for trying.

One thing it can’t be called is boring.

It has been 25 years since the events of the first film. John McClane (Willis) is older, wiser, and still wisecracking. McClane once again has to rescue a family member. In the original, it was his wife. This time, it's his son – and he's in Russia.

In that small way, "Good Day" takes the series back to its roots – but as the exotic locale indicates, this ain't exactly your daddy's "Die Hard."

There's an early, amusing scene in a cab. McClane attempts to give directions in Russian. The cabdriver (Pasha D. Lychnikoff) responds in English and eventually starts singing American songs.  No, I'm not kidding.

But that's merely the calm before the storm. What follows is one of the most ridiculous and insane car chase sequences ever committed to celluloid. The earlier "Die Hard" films were never exactly known for their realism, but they're downright subdued compared to this.

Eventually, McClane finds his son, Jack (Jai Courtney), who is involved in "spy s***."

It's hard to tell if "Good Day" is trying to be a spoof of "The Transporter," "Bond," or the other "Die Hard" movies.

Jack's secret mission is to protect a Russian named Komarov (Sebastian Koch, looking like Mel Gibson's mugshot) who has access to a very important file. It's "a matter of national security," of course. Isn't it always?

From there, father and son bicker and hurtle from one over-the-top action set-piece to another until they eventually reach – are you ready for this? – Chernobyl. Yes, that Chernobyl.  

"Good Day" goes for broke with goofy exuberance, reveling in a series of breakneck stunts and massive explosions. Just about every scene is wildly implausible – completely defying all logic, not to mention gravity – and yet I found myself smiling, swept away by the sheer scale of it all.

In the midst of all the craziness, I actually missed Willis uttering his famous "Yippee Ki-Yay" catchphrase. (Apparently, I'm not alone. IMDB.com user "davidstreibig" did too.)

Nothing is too outlandish for this movie. Here's an example: one of the villains, Alik (Rasha Bukvic), explains that he turned out that way because he was never allowed to follow his true passion in life. To prove his point, his taps his feet on the floor and expertly performs a dance number.

A tap-dancing villain – that's the type of movie this is.

The reason it works, at least somewhat, is because of the chemistry and banter between Willis and the well-cast Courtney. The younger McClane holds his own. Unlike, say, Mutt from "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," Jack never feels artificially tacked-on.

Is this a good "Die Hard" movie? I'm still not sure. But as absurd as "A Good Day to Die Hard" is, I undeniably had fun watching it. 

Review: Looper

A Man Searches For Himself

By Chris Sabga

Release Date: September 28, 2012

Rating: R

Genre: Action, Sci-Fi

Running Time: 119 minutes

Writer: Rian Johnson

Director: Rian Johnson

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, 

Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Noah Segan, 

Piper Perabo, Jeff Daniels, Pierce Gagnon, 

Qing Xu, Frank Brennan, Garret Dillahunt, 

Nick Gomez

If you could travel back in time and talk to your younger self, what would you say?

If you could stop a tyrant before he becomes one, would you?

There are no easy answers in "Looper" – one of the most interesting and inventive time travel movies in years.

A looper is an assassin hired to take out "the future's garbage." Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is one of many.

Writer and director Rian Johnson brings the year 2044 to life by crafting a masterful story and infusing it with all sorts of cool little details.

In addition to time travel and the concept of loopers, Joe's personable narration informs us that there are also "TKs" – people with telekinetic abilities. However, far from being the "superheroes" everyone was expecting, their "powers" amount to nothing more than being able to float a quarter in mid-air – a mere parlor trick – and that's it.

If you're fired from an ordinary job, you're sent on your way, free to live your life. If a looper is let go, he's forced to kill his future self first. It's called "closing the loop." Most loopers blindly do as they're told and live out the thirty years they have left.

Seth (Paul Dano) isn't one of them. He can't bear to murder his older self (Frank Brennan). He goes to Joe for help and warns him that someone from the future is closing all the loops.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Joe himself is next. Whether or not Young Joe is willing to close his own loop, Old Joe (Bruce Willis) can't let that happen.

In a way, the situation is somewhat reminiscent of an earlier Willis role – "Disney's The Kid." In that one, he met the 8-year-old version of himself. Both movies even feature a diner in the middle of nowhere. The two aren't actually related, of course, and "Looper" is much darker overall.

After Old Joe escapes from Young Joe, the chase is on. But other people are looking for them too – including Abe (Jeff Daniels) and Jesse (Garret Dillahunt).

Young Joe ends up hiding at an old farmhouse where Sara (British actress Emily Blunt, speaking with a flawless American country accent) and her young son Cid (Pierce Gagnon) live.

Much has been made of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's face being altered to resemble Bruce Willis's. Truthfully, he looks more like "SVU's" Danny Pino than Willis, but it still works overall. I expected to be constantly distracted by the makeup, but I never was. Levitt's acting talents go a long way in making this otherwise jarring effect a success. I could be wrong, but it sounds like he changed his voice and speaking style too. Whatever he did, he makes it easy for the viewer to accept his new look. The transition is almost seamless.

Rian Johnson has created a fascinating futuristic world in "Looper." It's one of the best sci-fi films to come out in a long time.