Die Hard

I almost hate to admit it, but this was a dynamite action flick. Bruce "I am not David Addison" Willis does a credible job as the off-duty cop on the spot (but then again, I guess he is playing a David Addison role here, isn't he?), and the physical production and the stunts are terrific (pretty good bullet hits too). The picture never flags, never loses energy, and actually surprises you a number of times. The villains are fiendish and formidable, especially the leader Hans (the great Alan Rickman) and, in an atypically vicious role, Alexander Gudonov, as one of the nastier henchmen. This picture's greatest attribute (aside from some excellent fight scenes) is its rigid adherence to its own internal logic. Sure, it may be a bit unbelievable that Bruce can defeat this horde, but on the other hand everything he does makes some sort of sense, and so does everything the bad guys do. If you allow yourself to go with the flow, you don't get any of the rude jolts that make you say, "hey, that's ridiculous-that would never happen." Events follow one another in a reasonable way, there are no deus ex machinas here. A good punchy picture, good movie-making, good entertainment.