Do you see how simple this first film was?
Seriously, does Hollywood want to ruin everything that is right with movies nowadays by barfing out a reboot that makes no sense at all? Die Hard and its’ two decent sequels represented one of the greatest franchises that came out of the late ’80s and early ’90s. It was a perfect blend of every-man action with semi-plausible threats… at least until the franchise was tarnished with a meh Live Free or Die Hard and the abomination known as A Good Day to Die Hard. Now, Len Wiseman (the Director of Live Free or Die Hard) thinks it is a good idea to reboot the franchise and create a prequel that will explore John McClane’s origin story. Being the resident mean guy of the Internet, I feel it is my duty to point out why this idea is perhaps the stupidest movie concept since Gigli.
John McClane Is NOT A Superhero
The second one had a plot to take over an airport terminal. See? All we need to know.
John may hold a special place in the hearts of every lover of ass-kicking entertainment, but an origin story is completely useless. Why? John McClane was pitched to the audience as an ordinary man in a way that kind of foresaw the modern, gritty action movies that dominate the landscape today, such as the Jason Bourne franchise and the Daniel Craig era of Bond. What could there honestly be worth telling here when the original film gave us his backstory? In case you need a reminder, here it is:
- John McClane is an ordinary detective.
- He is trying to patch up his relationship with his estranged family (with uneven results).
- He is caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- He suffers through obstacles, curses, and shoots all the bad guys until the movie is over.
What else do we need to know? Nothing. If they put him in his first Die Hard-esque situation, they’ll just piss off the fans because Nakatomi Plaza will always hold that distinction. If they try to make it like Live Free, that’ll just make things worse because we don’t want to really be reminded of the point where this franchise went downhill. I could go on and on, but here is the critical point:
This Is A Terrible Cash Grab
Why do I love Die Hard 3? It was my intro to Samuel L. Jackson… and it was just as simple.
Do you want to know why Die Hard was so different and fresh to me; a guy who was born one year after the original came out? It’s because it felt like it was a labor of love made by someone that wanted to show me a different kind of action film where someone could place themselves in McClane’s shoes. What would you do in that situation? How far would you go to save people? What would be your epic one-liner? By knowing all of these things, we knew who John was at heart without the need for an unnecessary and extravagant origin story that is ultimately going to feel hollow. The original trilogy had a soul that a lot of films can’t match.
I don’t feel any of that with the news of this announcement. The audience deserves a different class of original action films for the modern era, and I just hope that someone out there will give it to us very soon.
Until then, leave these old masterpieces alone.
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