10 Franchises That Peaked With The First Movie
1. Die Hard
Die Hard is arguably the greatest action movie ever made, and definitely top five for any self-respecting genre aficionado. In setting the bar so high, there obviously wasn't a chance in hell that the sequels could possibly match up to the original's sheer brilliance.
Ironically, considering that John McTiernan's classic spawned the entire 'Die Hard in a *insert location/mode of transport here*' sub-genre that was so prevalent in the 90's, the first sequel itself is simply 'Die Hard in an airport'. As cut-and-paste as sequels come, Die Hard 2 copies the formula beat-for-beat and in the process comes across as a pale imitation of the original.
The criminally-underrated Die Hard with a Vengeance wisely upends the formula, with the bickering chemistry between Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson elevating the movie beyond its cliched buddy movie conventions and the race-against-time narrative allowing the returning McTiernan to add thriller elements into his already-assured handling of the action.
Live Free or Die Hard is a solid action movie, it just isn't a Die Hard movie. The set-pieces are big, loud, brash, but it comes at a cost; John McClane loses his reluctant hero everyman appeal and instead becomes just another bulletproof killing machine, which is the exact opposite of what the character is supposed to be.
A poorly-directed assault on the senses that sees the once-relatable McClane gunning down faceless henchmen, fifth (and hopefully final) installment A Good Day to Die Hard marked the franchise's alarming descent into the abysmal, a marked and infuriating departure from an all-time classic original that redefined both the action movie and the action hero, altering the course of the entire genre in the process.