Die Hard 2 (1990)

"How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice?" John McClane asks himself a little into Die Hard 2. Well, I know the answer. It's because a successful action flick is usually doomed to become a franchise. But at least this second entry is still good. 

And still set on Christmas Eve. Only this time John McClane (Bruce Willis) is in Washington at Dulles Airport waiting for his wife (Bonnie Bedelia) to land when a group of terrorists, led by Colonel Stuart (William Sadler), takes over the landing system to have a drug lord freed. 

The plot is basically a rip-off of the original film, lacking in originality and freshness. There's also plenty of plot holes, the terrorist plot doesn't work as smoothly as it did in Die Hard and McClane's involvement in the story doesn't work very well either. I mean, he's complaining all the time about not wanting to be there and not wanting to go through that shit all over again and yet there he is, doing the same stuff. He didn't have much of a choice in the first film, but he does this day. 

In spite of all those flaws and the slower pace, the story still has a nice flow, there are some good twists and there's plenty of tension and suspense to keep you engaged. 

20th Century Fox

As for the characters, as much as I loved seeing John McClane back in action, the guy doesn't get any further development here and he was treated quite poorly. I'm not sure who is to be blamed, whether the writers or Willis, but he's too serious and when he's trying to be funny, he does it at the wrong moment and it doesn't work. And Colonel Stuart isn't much of a villain. He is just scary-ish. You can't top Alan Rickman's Gruber though. 

Anyway, Die Hard 2 still is a very entertaining and enjoyable film and the action plays a very important role in that. There's way more action than there was in the first film, it's basically everywhere, and, while most of the scenes are recycled, it's quite exciting and the sequences are well elaborated.