3. Idiotic Action Sequences
Outside of how they're directed, these sequence are often just downright dumb. Not content to just be monotonous, the comparison to video game shootouts is obvious but apt, and this reaches its apex once a shirtless, muscular baddie with a giant machine gun shows up to fend off the McClanes. His wild gunfire causes some gas pipes to start leaking, and so one well-placed grenade quickly takes care of him; it feels like a crap video game boss fight that's over too fast - there's no feral intelligence to the action, just an A-to-B simplicity. The real kicker, though, is the resolution of the finale, which has Irina stalking John and John Jr with an armed helicopter, and when her father is fed into the rotor blades, decides to lose her mind, ramming the helicopter into the building that the McClanes are inside. However, they're able to easily leap to the side of the copter, falling into the water below as the copter expodes into a fireball, killing Irina. Um, how, exactly, does this make any sense? Sacrificing your life for your cause is one thing, but to pointlessly lay your life down for a small chance to kill the heroes is just asinine. Needless to say, it evoked plenty of laughter in my screening.