Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)

Die Hard with a Vengeance is the third installment of the Die Hard franchise and my second favorite Die Hard movie. The film is about Hans Gruber's brother, Simon, who comes back to settle the score with John McClane and likewise score with the national reserve.

John McTiernan the original director of the first Die Hard is back to continue the storyline of what happens with the unlucky but cunning John McClane. McTiernan is a legendary action director, something to which this generation is really missing. He has a new film announced and anyone who's a fan of Die Hard should be excited for whatever it might be. Between Predator, The Hunt for Red October, Last Action Hero, and the Die Hard franchise there's little evidence the next movie will flop.

Bruce Willis does what worked in the first one again. He makes his character interesting, easily understood and allows us to empathize with his problems. Especially with the racial tensions at the time, people could really understand how wearing a racist sign in Harlem would bring around problems and characters like Zeus to save him. His never-ending strife towards success is one of the reasons his character is great, like the title.

Jeremy Irons is the perfect villain in this. He's smart and diabolical. He plays with McClane while doing his other villainous actions elsewhere. Even making McClane do math in a park with jugs of water. It's humiliating and makes his character have more depth because he's not evil just for the sake of being evil. He is here for vengeance and nothing will stop him, except McClane.

Samuel L. Jackson is great in this film. His characters are not stereotypical, offensive, or stupid. He really brings to life his character in a way that no one else could at the time. There are few actors out there today that have the range that Jackson does. He has a way to tap into anger that rivals Jack Nickolson.

Result: A (One of the best Die Hard movies and up there for great action films)

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