John McClane is arguably the greatest action hero of all time. And even if he’s not, then there’s no denying he bucked the trend of big screen steroid-pumped 80′s machismo with his gritty and realistic portrayal of a regular guy in the wrong place at the wrong time in Die Hard.
He also made smoking in dirty undershirts cool.
Unfortunately, despite the fact it was awesome to revisit the character of McClane again and again over the course of three sequels, the quality of each new film began to spiral from good to mediocre to crap.
Die Hard at an airport.
Die Hard with a sidekick.
Die Hard with a shaved head and stupid title.
Now John McClane is set to return to the big screen yet again in A Good Day To Die Hard, a title that is already by far the dumbest in the entire franchise.
And since the movie titles and films themselves have gotten perpetually worse with each sequel, the chances of a fifth Die Hard reinvigorating the series are pretty much slim to none — especially when the film’s trailer showcases an abundance of familiar gunplay and explosions across Moscow, Russia.
Factor in that the new McClane adventure is penned by Hollywood hack Skip Woods (writer of big budget garbage like G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Swordfish), there’s little hope that the newest Die Hard will change the pattern of increasingly shitty sequels.
This is the same clown that expected us to take a painfully-coiffed soul-patched Travolta seriously.
Nevertheless, despite all the discouraging details about A Good Day To Die Hard, you can bet that I’ll be hitting the cinemas come February. Why? Because even a microscopic chance of the greatest action hero of all time returning for a worthy cinematic adventure is worth buying a ticket for.
I love John McClane, and even though he may have lost his way, it’s still a thrill to watch the man who single-handedly took down Hans Gruber and co. kick ass on the silver screen.
A Good Day To Die Hard opens February 14, 2013.