This sequel to the 1988 classic is more of the same; more action, more witty banter from Willis’ McClane to anyone who will listen and more ruthless violence. Many might find it troubling that director Renny Harlin and the slew of writers had almost tunnel vision when putting together this film, but, they took every incredible aspect from the first film and twisted it ever so slightly to create a new masterpiece. I thought that the cast and crew successfully built on McClane’s character and his story, solidifying John McClane as one of cinema’s greatest action heroes among the likes of Rambo and John Wayne. One thing that I found better in this film was the villain. While Alan Rickman certainly stole the show in Die Hard, William Sadler’s Stuart is far more vicious than Rickman’s Hans Gruber. The inclusion of certain characters from the first film (i.e. Reginald VelJohnson’s Al Powell and William Atherton’s Thornberg) was a great choice as a way to connect part one and part two and the new characters, regardless of how useless some of them turned out to be, were great additions to the cast. Dennis Franz’s Carmine Lorenzo was, by far, one of the most annoying characters from either film (right up there with Hart Bochner’s Harry Ellis from the first film) but was a necessary evil. He played a perfect foil to McClane and, by the end of the film, helped the cause in some ways. Tom Bower’s Marvin was another great addition of comedy and wit to work alongside McClane throughout the film. This film was, again, more of the same from the first, but, there is no harm in giving the people what they want. Audiences cherish Willis’ character and and the vision of novelist Walter Wager, so, I felt it was important that this film follow closely in the footsteps of the first. To this day, I believe that this is the best film of the series and I encourage any skeptics (if there are any) to give this sequel a chance. It truly lives up to the hype of the first film. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099423/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
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