Written by Steven E. de Souza, Doug Richardson, and Walter Wager
Directed by Renny Harlin

“Sequelitis” is a term usually applied to movies when the first movie was great (or at least good) and then it seems that the second (or third, fourth, fifth, etc.) picture in the franchise suffers. Usually, it’s because too much time is spent setting up the picture to have too much in common with the first. Oftentimes the same characters are brought back across the board and their presence might not be warranted in the new film.

Die Hard 2: Die Harder is an example of how to do a sequel right. The characters that were brought back for the film were handled correctly, rather than creating a setting that felt forced. By moving the action to the other side of the country, it allowed for new characters as well.

John McClane (portrayed by Bruce Willis) is back, only now he’s an LA Cop, having moved there after the first film. He’s at Dulles Airport to pick up his wife, Holly (portrayed by Bonnie Bedelia) when the vehicle he’s using gets towed (it belongs to his mother-in-law). Holly is on a flight to DC from the West Coast. Also on the flight is Richard Thornberg (portrayed by William Atherton), the reporter who she punched out at the end of the first film. This creates some amusing moments.

John McClane sees suspicious activity and follows the men back into the baggage loading and sorting area. A fight ensues and McClane kills one of the men while the others get away. When McClane is brought to Captain Lorenzo (portrayed by Dennis Franz), he basically tosses McClane out, keeping the airport running smoothly over the holiday above security.

However, McClane manages to get into the tower and talk to Mr. Trudeau (portrayed by Fred Thompson), the head air traffic controller. McClane shows him paperwork indicating the man he killed in the baggage area supposedly died two years before and was a former CIA operative. While he’s up there, the lights on the airport runways go dark.

This sets in motion a chain of events that leads him to uncover a terrorist plot against the airport in order to gain the release of General Esperanza (portrayed by Franco Nero). Esperanza was a major figure captured in the war on drugs. The plot involves an Oliver North-style story of drugs for arms by a traitorous official, Colonel Stuart (portrayed by William Sadler).

The movie works for the most part, which is unusual for a sequel. The script has something totally different happening than in Die Hard, and it’s something that really builds on the fear some of us have in flying where we put our lives in the hands of a few people on the ground. It felt like it could happen, especially watching it again after the events of the past few years.

Willis does a great job as McClane. He’s really not all that different than he was in Die Hard. He’s got a smart-aleck attitude that at times can be off-putting, but it also keeps him from being too intense. It might be hard to believe that he’s the only one smart enough to root out the perpetrators, as well as survive every onslaught of bullets relatively unscathed.

And the bullets do fly. There is plenty of action set in a controlled environment like in Die Hard. The airport is in the throes of a snowstorm, adding to the peril as events unfold. This means that it would be difficult to bring in a lot of outside help, and when it does arrive, it isn’t necessarily the kind of help you’d want.

Dennis Franz is very good as Captain Lorenzo. He’s a complete jerk, but he doesn’t seem all that different than Sipowicz in personality, except Sipowicz knew what he was doing. Lorenzo is incompetent, not recognizing the difference between an annoying traffic situation and events that could lead to the deaths of thousands.

Of course, like in Die Hard, McClane needs the African-American sidekick. That seems to be a common thread through these films. Al (portrayed by Reginald VelJohnson) makes a brief appearance, but it’s one of the airport officials, Barnes (portrayed by Art Evans) who teams up with McClane throughout the film.

The relationship between John and Holly seems to be much closer than it was in Die Hard. John has moved to L.A. to be with his family and seems to be genuinely trying to make it work./ His love for Holly is apparent, as is how distressed he is when he realizes her plane is one of the ones in the air that could eventually crash.

However, this brings up some of the parts of the story I really had issues with. The airport was already socked in with a bad snowstorm when Trudeau had his last communication with the inbound flights before that avenue was severed. He never seems to think of telling the planes to divert to other airports when he initially communicates the delay to them. They probably could have diverted at that point – why keep them in a holding pattern?

During the siege with the bad guys out on the skywalk, they are capable enough to take out an entire SWAT team but are unable to shoot straight enough subsequently to get McClane. This happens in many of these action-type films, and it’s something that always bugs me.

However, I can manage to suspend my disbelief for the most part and enjoy Die Hard 2: Die Harder. It’s packed with action and suspense and a lot of fun in general. There’s no overkill with coincidences that keep the same characters coming back yet there are enough ties to the first film that it achieves a nice balance.


SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Commentary with Director Renny Harlin
• Die Harder: The Makign of Die Hard 2
• Featurette
• Trailers & TV Spots
• Deleted Scenes
• Interview with Renny Harlin
• Villain’s Profile
• Breaking the Ice
• Chaos on the Conveyor Belt
• Storyboard Sequence
• Visual Effects Breakdown: Ejector Seat
• Visual Effects Breakdown: Airport Runway