Summer movies (part 2)

Die Hard 4.0, Len Wiseman (Dir.), Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long, Maggie Q

I know what you're thinking. "Die Hard 4.0?!? You must really be scraping the bottom of the summer movie barrel......". Well, not quite. There's still Evan Almighty, Bratz and Surf's Up somewhere further down, but trust me, I ain't going there..... In fact, Die Hard 4.0 is the best of the Die Hard series. You may not think that counts for much, but the difference is that the fourth installment was directed by Len Wiseman, he of the cult, future vampire noir Underworld series (you know, the one with Kate Beckinsale? OK, never mind.....), which means that it has a certain edge go it. This time, John McClane (who, incidentally, looks more like he should be in a movie about a washed up boxer) responds to what appears to be a routine call to pick up a suspected hacker, but becomes entangled in a plot to unleash a "fire sale", a four-step cyberhack designed to bring the country to its knees by disabling transportation and utilities, spreading fear through the media and stealing lots of money. Justin Long is entertaining as the paranoid hacker who becomes McClane's sidekick; Olyphant (whose name sounds like it should appear in the dictionary as an antonym to sycophant) and Q play the rather clichéd bad guys. It's mindless action all the way through, all very implausible, and there are lots of guns and explosions and stuff. Oh, and the guy from District 13 (Banlieu 13) is in it (you know, the French one with all the parkour runners in it....).