Callum’s review published on Letterboxd:
I'll start by saying this is a perfectly acceptable action film, but a dramatically sub-par Die Hard film. Almost all the conventions that I'd come to expect from a Die Hard film were sadly absent or particularly lacklustre.
So, this time around John "I'm probably too old for this shit but who gives a flying fuck" McClane teams up with his son Jack to take on some terrorist scum-bags or whatever... yahhda yahhda yahhda. The plot is a lot more wide reaching than prior films, and seems really baggy compared to the tight, contained and fast paced action of the first few films.
Now, John has always had sidekicks, and they're always a sort of "anti-McClane", fat, nerdy, reluctant, racist, but always there to lend a helping hand, and usually possessing a useful trait not found in McClane himself. Jack is not to be placed in this category, as he is essentially as much of a tough, gung-ho action hero as his father, a choice that means that John isn't really driving the plot for much of the film.
The fact that you've essentially got two John McClanes involved in every action scene, means that the scales are usually pretty evenly matched. Say goodbye to the smart tactics and creativity of classic McClane and say hello to "shoot the fuck out of everything".
Willis delivers the same old dry one liners we expect, but they're hardly memorable (I mean, even Die Hard 4 had "Last time I saw her she was at the bottom of a elevator shaft with an SUV rammed up her ass. ") and has a particularly crappy "Yippee-ki-yay" moment, though kudos for the visual tribute to Hans Gruber's iconic demise. The rest of the script is hardly worth mentioning, bar some cringe-worthy "dysfunctional family" dialogue.
Less young-muscle-bound guy shooting things and more grumpy-old-sweary-bastard kicking the shit out of people next time please.