The fifth entry into the Die Hard saga, A Good Day to Die Hard, hits cinemas worldwide today, and critics - who were largely only screened the film at the last minute - have been quick to give it a shellacking, with it sitting at a meagre
11% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it easily the worst-reviewed film of the franchise and also one of the most critically panned films of 2013 so far (alongside dreck like Texas Chainsaw, Movie 43 and Safe Haven). You can read my review
here, but we're also keen to examine in greater detail exactly why John McClane's fifth outing proves to be the first that fails to live up to the otherwise strong Die Hard brand. Expectations were low from the outset given the "talent" attached to making it work, but the film fails to even deliver as a brainless actioner; pretty much everything that could be wrong with it
is wrong with it. Here are 10 reasons A Good Day to Die Hard sucks, and why you shouldn't give Fox a penny of your money for it this weekend.
SPOILER ALERT: heavy plot details do abound, not that you should be worried about that...
10. Forgettable Story
A Good Day to Die Hard starts off fine enough; John McClane Jr. (Jai Courtney) ends up being busted for assassinating some guy on behalf of the CIA, and winds up arrested. John Sr. has to then travel to Russia to bail him out, and this is where things get dicey. The father-son duo stumbles upon a political conspiracy that begins as a search for a top secret government file and ends up being about a stolen plutonium stash that leads the McClane clan to a showdown at, yes, Chernobyl. I only saw this film 12 hours ago, and it's already making my head hurt trying to remember exactly what it's all about; it's so vague and generic, not exactly what we expect from a Die Hard film. The familial arc isn't awful, but the typical action scenario it's crossed with is just too bland and boring, making this feel - as I've said numerous times already - like a cack-handed episode of 24 rather than the next installment in a hugely successful, major action franchise.