 Is Bruce Willis still cool you ask? We ponder this question as we sit down for a night of Live Free or Die Hard, recently released on DVD, and consider his coolness as well as his acting skills in his film. We are pleased to answer in the affirmative on both accounts. The fourth installment of the Die Hard series staring everyman action hero Bruce Willis is one kick-ass non-stop action flick, elevating it to one of the best of the series. If you liked the previous installments, you are bound to enjoy this bad guy fuck'em up, which finds Bruce Willis keeping pace just as macho tough as in any previous Die Hard Film.
Willis delivers once again in this role with virtuoso command of the John McClane blue-collar hero that made Willis a famous action star going back to the early 80s when we were first introduced to the hero, stuck in tall skyscrapers, battling terrorists that he suspected where European because of “the labels of their clothes.” What other hero could realize the fake was on because of the "label of their clothes..." Is that mere hyper-machismo or one highly atuned "gaydar"? Moreover, Willis’ bald dome is a great, distinguished canvas for action style blood smears. It reads like a phrenological tour of duty replete with bumps, bruises and ass-kickings of years gone bye. He moves with alacrity and conviction of, well, John McClane, and being in his 50s has not slowed McClane one bit. We should not fuck with this man and neither should you. After all, the wiley police veteran has too many tricks up his cut-off and tattered sleeves. McClanes feats in this flcik are nearly Herculean: He can roll a fire extinguisher down a hallway and shoot it with a pistol just as an assassin is entering the end of it, thus blowing him and the terrorist out the window and onto the street. He can also jump out of a car so it launches out of a garage and into the air - a makeshift projectile to take out a helicopter, wich it does. You may even find him tap dancing on the tail end of a jet fighter, which is spiraling out of control no doubt, only to leap to safety onto a downed highway off ramp cinematically positioned against the backdrop of urban destruction. He can take a pistol wedged into his shoulder and use it to blast a computer hacker into hell, while simultaneously mending an old relationship with his daughter. Now, if that is not the mark of a true action hero I don’t know what the fuck could be. However, to answer your question, is Bruce Willis cool in this movie? Well, yes, he is fucking real cool and I think it is something with pride to say we still have Willis, now in his 50s, kicking some major ass in action movies.
Of course we also have Harrison Ford, Sly Stallone and they are all making sequels to prove that their characters are too tough to die too, that not even Father Time can take away their set of iron balls. I put my money on Willis though, as the coolest tough actor of the aging hero trio who can still convincingly survive the impossible while maintaining his coolness into the 2000s and beyond. Willis, like a worn piece of leather, has the look of comfortable durability. Like Indiana's bull whip across the back of assassins. But what of those other action heros? Ford is pretty cool, just not that cool. Stallone has done some cool movies, but he is not cool per se. Willis gets the nod here, though it should be stated I do plan to see the next Raiders of the Lost Ark with Ford, now in his 60s, for the sake of comparison. Nonetheless, it will be hard to top McClane. After all, his wink of an eye in the middle of danger, his ability to run over glass in bare feet, his ability to patch family matters up in the midst of a an assault on the U.S. grid system is, to borrow a McClane phrase, what makes him that guy. Other notable performances in this film include Timothy Olyphant as the bad guy computer hacker, who was “crucified” by the U.S. Government for pointing out deficiencies in the Nation’s computer defense infrastructure. He was smooth, cold and efficient as the bad guy, and not wildly psycho like most screen villains. It almost seemed like a waste of a fine tailored shirt when Willis shot a bullet through himself and the well put together Olyphant. But, you knew that would happen didn’t you? Justin Long as Matt Ferrell was effective and serviceable. His role called for him to serve as sort of the brains we would not believe McClane has and as a sounding board for McClane’s one-liners in the middle of abject chaos. But, one could imagine other actors doing a fine job in this role as well. Still, he was good. He was second fiddle, not first. He did a good second fiddle In my opinion, Bruce Willis is the last great action hero, at least until somebody else comes along and takes the pistol from him. When that day happens, as it must, we would imagine Willis would be just as happy as McClane might be when it comes time to turn the badge in and collect his laughable pension. After all, what do you get for being a hero? Like McClane said in this film, “shot at and a pat on the back….” Well, Willis in this cool flick gets a pat on the back from us. It is what makes him that guy. Matthew J. DeReno is a writer living in Pittsburgh.
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