Live Free or Die Hard is how action movies used to be made.  There is no way Justin Long could possibly replace Sam Jackson as a sidekick or Timothy Olyphant ever make a very good bad guy. Live Free or Die Hard will probably be filled with so many one liners that it will go down like the Titanic as one of the lamest films of its genre.

These of course are all the things I had to say about the film before I saw it, having felt the casting was all wrong. Turns out, Justin Long could hold his own with Bruce Willis. The chemistry between the two actors was probably the same, if not better then the chemistry that existed between Willis and Jackson in Die Hard 3. Long didn’t overdo it with the comedy and he even got to show a little action hero as well.

I’m still not convinced that Timothy Olyphant was the right actor for this role. He isn’t really a physical villain and his part in the film seemed very limited. His character on Deadwood is very docile and when he gets angry its not really anger that your seeing its just violence, his voice tends to go all Malkovich on you when your expecting some hostility. Still, his performance suited the character well enough to be convincing.

Now about the overall film. Action packed, exciting, suspenseful. You had an insane free runner that just stole every scene he was in, great fights, awesome stunts. Every time someone got killed I winced at the gruesome sight. Willis doesn’t look like he’s getting any older and if they wanted to keep this franchise going they still have a fan in me.

There were a few one liners that we could have done without and towards the later half of the film things get a little too nuts, abusing the whole suspending disbelief deal we had going on. Two films came to mind as the film begun to reach its end; The Rock and True Lies. They both have some pretty crazy stunts in them that make you shrug your shoulders and soldier on but they tend to go over the top like things went here. It doesn’t ruin the flow of the film but it takes the humanity out of the films character.

All and all though, a great action flick that should do well for itself upon release. I highly suggest it to any action film fans.