9 Movie Sequels That Ruined Great Characters

When we first met Die Hard’s John McClane back in 1988 he was a cynical, no-nonsense NYPD cop with a knack for foul-mouthed one-liners who had the misfortune of finding himself in a rather sticky situation but the resourcefulness to get out of it – a kind of reluctant hero who simply found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and did what he had to do with whatever he had at his disposal.

The next two films in the franchise stayed true to the original and though McClane blowing up elevator shafts and taking out a villain-packed helicopter by strategically shooting down a power line isn’t exactly the stuff of gritty realism he was still pretty believable as a person. Or at least as believable as an action movie character can be anyway.

But Live Free or Die Hard largely abandoned that and gave McClane superhero-like qualities that gave him the power to effortlessly surf a pilotless fighter jet before leaping to a highway below – completely unharmed of course – and other such silly stuff. By the time A Good Day to Die Hard was released McClane was practically indestructible defying death (and credibility) at every turn despite now being in his late 50s.

Yippee-ki-yay? How about yippee-ki-nay.