On this merry jolly list of Christmas films this month, its good to see the odd injection of all out action as opposed to the saccharin delights of the usual Christmas fare. With that, we have possibly the dumbest named Die Hard film of the lot. As John McClane famously says in the film “how can the same shit happen to the same guy twice?” Indeed, how could it? But none of us cared really, I certainly didn’t. “Improbable” is not a word that exists in the universe of Mr. McClane.

DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER
Renny Harlin, 1990, US

Renny Harlin takes over from John McTiernan’s almost flawless entry of the first film in the franchise and pulls off what is easily my favourite Harlin film next to The Long Kiss Goodnight. I haven’t always been a huge fan of his style but he’s a more than competent director, if not a little over the top.

Is this a Christmas film? I certainly believe so. It makes me feel Christmassy when I watch it and that’s more than enough of an excuse to review this instead of unwillingly trundling my way through The Santa Clause. As a film in general, it’s great but not the best of the quadrilogy. If I were to put them in an order, it would be 1,3,2,4 and that’s not to diminish the quality of this second installment. I think most people would agree with that pecking order though, it appears to be the same view across the board. Die Harder (hehe) is a great action flick and still better than most. I still throw it on occasionally and these first two films would be a great double action bill for a Christmas Eve if you decide to have a quiet night in. After deciding to go with this film, I came to the realisation that reviewing it is almost completely pointless. Every self respecting film buff out there has seen it and certainly 99% of the visitors to this site has also I’m willing to bet. Still, I had to choose a Christmas film and I’m a bit of a Grinch when it comes to films that have anything to do with that fictitious fat guy in red and white who distributes presents. Between Tim Allen trying to regain the affections of his hard-done-by son and Bruce Willis shuffling terrorists off the mortal coil with lots of gunfire and explodey bits, then it’s a no brainer. Die Harder it is.

Exactly one year after John McClane sealed the fate of 14 terrorists and one large Nakatomi building, he now sits in the Dulles Airport awaiting the arrival of his once estranged Wife (Bonnie Bedilia). Nefarious plans are afoot however, with the impending arrival of General Esperanza, a notorious and feared drug lord being extradited and awaiting trial in the good ole U.S of A. Before his flight is due to land, terrorists led by Colonel Stewart (William Sadler YES!) seize control of the airport and it’s operating systems and hold the incoming flights required to land hostage until Esperanza is safely delivered into their hands. Unfortunately for them there is a fly in the ointment, a boy who saw too many movies as a child and is more partial to Roy Rogers than John Wayne. Yes, the one and only John McClane. The only man one step behind the terrorists throughout the whole film whilst all other teams of police, swat and army (well, kind of) languish in a state of knowing fuck all about anything and not believing a word McClane says. Needless to say, McClane again squashes the competition in spectacular fashion whilst getting his arse kicked the entire way. YIPEEKIYAYE!

And this brings me to the point of why I think the whole set of Die Hard films worked in the first place. When Arnold Schwarzenegger slaughtered a million bad guys in Commando, he strutted out with his daughter relatively unscathed. When John McClane reaches the end of a Die Hard film, he is quite literally broken. Exhausted, covered in blood, which is sometimes others but mostly his own, shot, beaten and barely walking. The man is a mess and this lends itself to realism a lot more in a film about absurd circumstances and unlikely odds of success. Even with the incredible happenings in the film, it’s McClane’s ass getting kicked but still coming out on top (due to a bit of quick thinking and a whole lotta luck) that keeps us as viewers absolutely loving every minute of it. I still wince when I see him in the first film dragging himself into the bathroom with his feet bleeding. There isn’t quite a scene as squirmy in this film but he still takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

His very human reactions also make a great attempt to endear us to the character. When he shoves an icicle into a terrorists eye socket during a life or death fight, he doesn’t just get up and walk away in slo-mo. He rolls the guy over, looks at him with his new frozen eye implant sticking out of his face and turns away quickly yelping “uuuugh!” The man reacts as we would, gets worn out as we would and behaves as we would hope to. He’s no kung-fu expert but more of a tough street brawler so that allows us to put ourselves in his shoes (for those that don’t know kung-fu that is). This is why we love him so much and they felt the need to make 4 films where he’s put into extenuating circumstances that would hail him the most unlucky-lucky guy on earth, respectively. We all love to see a regular guy come out on top and McClane is certainly portrayed as regular as they possibly could in such a film. I imagine most red blooded males fantasize about saving the day against all odds and the Die Hards fill that slot perfectly. It basically created its own genre.

Die Hard 2 is in no way a weak film. Far from it. It is the second part of a franchise of incredible action films and just so happens to be just a touch under the third film for thrills. Just a touch. It is still an excellent watch and something I can rewatch with ease. If you’re looking for an action packed Christmas, you can’t go wrong with throwing the first two Christmas themed Die Hards in amongst the mix. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas….with machine guns…HO…HO…HO!