Yeah, it doesn't have any Christmas morals or themes, but it
does take place on Christmas, so it's a Christmas movie! Plus believe it or
not, it does have a Christmas atmosphere; holiday quotes and puns; and heck
there's even a Christmas soundtrack (Especially towards the end); you can even
say that Willis is the films guarding angel than just a hero or modern day
cowboy. IT'S A CHRISTMAS MOVIE! Anyway, getting on to the plot; Bruce Willis
plays New York City cop John McClane who goes to
California to
see his estranged wife for the holidays. However, at the building where she
works, terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) hold everyone hostage and
plan to rob the building and then destroy it. It's up to John to stop them and
save everyone including his Wife.
When I think of Bruce Willis, I immediately think of him in
this film! This performance is probably his best performance in his career! Why
not? He's badass; has a fun sense of humor; all his action moments are kickass;
he has some good emotional moments; and there are so many memorable moments
with him in this movie that it truly makes him unforgettable! This film also
gives Willis so many challenges that how he figures them all out, is just
genius writing! He's even in barefoot throughout the whole movie, which makes
it even more difficult for Willis as we feel his pain and struggles all the way throgh. This performance in general is undoubtedly Willis at his
best!
Another great aspect and character to the film is the
villain played by Alan Rickman. Before we all knew him as potion master Snape
in the "Harry Potter series", people knew him as this villain and his
performance still holds up. He's classy, but he's crazy; he acts professional,
but he'll kill you the minute you mess up or if he feels like it. On top of it, this villain is so
smart that he really puts Willis to the test. Of course, we know now that
Willis can defeat him, but it's still interesting to see the two challenge each
others wits. Oh and the villains final scene is so memorable that it's been
made fun of countless times, even Rickman himself made a joke on it.
The supporting cast while starting out as goofballs and not
needed characters, they actually do at some point later on serve a purpose in
the film. When I first saw characters like the Limo driver and the cop played
by Reginald Veljohnson, at first I'm thinking what purpose do they serve?
As I let the film play on, Veljohnson's character became interesting and serves
as a great supporting character to Willis; and the Limo driver actually does do
something important in the end as well as saying a great one liner to close the
film. Bonnie Bedelia as John's wife is the typical victim, but she
still is likable, has some great lines and doesn't like to be
interviewed after going through such of event. Han's Gruber's henchmen are also as cool and memorable their lead and though I can't simply go through them all, I will say
they are indeed as great as our villain. The film also has a dumb police chief
played by Paul Gleason and two FBI agents both named Johnson, and despite that people like Roger Ebert hate these characters and find them stupid, well personally that was the point of them. We've
seen stupid cops in other films before and while this Chief and these two FBI men make poor
decisions they still brings more problems to Bruce Willis just like our villain,
which of course makes the situation and film more intense. It surprises me how idiots like them were somehow qualified for their positions, they in the very least
don't fall under the category of Sheriff JW Pepper from the Bond films.
The film once again has a great Christmas and action atmosphere and the best part about it is you don't have to watch it around the holidays to still enjoy it since it can be as a stand alone action flick that just happens to take place on Christmas...BUT IT'S STILL A CHRISTMAS FILM! The action, stunts, cinematography, explosions, and lighting are so kickass and awesome that it's still cool, entertaining, and fun. In fact, after seeing this, I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of the many action films that action films today would get some heavy inspiration from. The scenes, moments, and time we spend with the characters are so memorable, so enjoyable, so awesome that many of us can point out our favorite moments from this film. The dialogue is also very fun, entertaining and quotable but I'm sure the line that most of us remember is "Yippie Kai Yay Motherf--ker! Yeah it does have moments that are unrealistic, in fact, it's amazing that the building never collapses after all that abuse, but it's one of those movies where you feel so engaged by the characters and set-up, thoroughly entertained from start to finish, and so mind blown by the action ,that you can just be willing to suspend your disbelief to enjoy it and if a film can do that, than anything is possible.
What more can I say, it's an awesome movie and everything about it is just plain awesome!
RATING 5/5
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