Live Free or Die Hard

John McClane (Bruce Willis) is back and cracking wise as things again start to blow up around him, as his bones creak from injuries inflicted over the course of the original Die Hard and the other two sequels in the franchise. This time, he’s called away from stalking his estranged daughter to pick up the next potential victim in a series of hackers being whacked. An explosive close call later and McClane and the kid (Justin Long) are on the run from a smarmy villain (Timothy Olyphant) who takes time from trying to kill the two along the way to take civilization off the power grid, stage by stage. Things get progressively more pyrotechnic as McClane gets closer to the evil genius. Does the nefarious plot make a lick of sense? No. Is the flick as good as first entry? Of course not … no cop action thriller beats Die Hard. But it was fun and easy-going with the self-deprecation, yet still didn’t come across as if the writers thought the target audience was anything more than a bunch of mouth-breathers. And if I get the vibe everyone involved is having fun, then I’m having fun.