Category: Movie Review

Before Man of Steel I was never much of a Superman fan, but my dad had a fondness for the old Christopher Reeves movies. They were simple, good natured movies where good was good, bad was bad and things were simple. When Tim Burton’s Batman dropped, there became an evident line between light and dark- Superman the poster child for the light. As years went on, everyone ran towards the dark while Superman stayed for the light. How did it hold up in a time in the gutter?

Superman, the Man of Steel, disappeared one day, thinking there was hope his birth home of Krypton may not have been totally destroyed. Five years later, after leaving his world behind, he returned to Earth back on the Kent farm in Smallville. While it was easy to get his job back at the Daily Planet, he quickly finds out Lois is an award winning writer who moved on with a handsome fiance and a son, and the world he left is falling into chaos. While a stunning return brings excitement from most of the world, an old enemy is plotting to bring some of Clark’s real home to Earth in a strange plan only Superman could stop…

Before I talk about how I feel about this movie, I admit to respecting what it was trying to do. Sadly, this may be the most boring superhero movie I’ve ever seen in my life. There’s almost no action whatsoever and no really intense conflict to speak of. The movie looks great, I will say that. Brandon Routh was a good successor to Reeves and I’d say his performance was underrated; Kevin Spacey was alright as Lex Luthor but could have been more menacing. I felt Kate Bosworth was bland as Lois Lane. The ultimate plot is lame and the movie drags on. I give them points for trying to go back to an older style of superhero film, but there’s better ways it could’ve been done. Mostly this movie boils down to style over substance and I don’t totally recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

I don’t watch many modern action flicks outside of the occasional old fashioned kind like John Wick , and of course superheroes and sci-fi.  The reason I do is because I find many of them to be too polished, too fake, and the heroes not cool enough. I’m glad to say Die Hard didn’t suffer from this…yet.

Many years after Die Hard with a Vengeance we again join John McClane doing what he does best, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is sent to bring in a young hacker in for questioning involving a string of deaths including hackers. This young man finds himself under fire from a group of highly trained mercs being lead by a unseen force that is manipulating the technology around us and is plotting to break the infrastructure of the US for his own selfish need. Can John protect the kid, save his daughter, and save the country?

At first, I was afraid Die Hard 4 was going to too modern and it would lose the charm and grit of the original trilogy. For the most part it surprisingly doesn’t. It feels like a Die Hard movie in the modern age. Bruce Willis again is awesome as an older McClane who’s weathered but still relate able. The action scenes are pretty awesome but once or twice they jump the shark I admit like the jet scene. Gabriel is an alright villain and Justin Long isn’t a bad sidekick as the hacker Matt. A couple of times the pg-13 rating showed but surprisingly wasn’t invasive until they edited his signature catchphrase at the end.  Honestly, I really enjoyed this movie and I think it’s really overlooked and I recommend checking it out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.