Yipee-Ki-Yay?

Hello again dear readers! As you may remember from my first post, I had the privilege of attending a Die Hard Marathon in celebration of the franchises most recent release: It's a Good Day to Die Hard. That's right kiddos, all FIVE Die Hard films in one day! It was glorious!

In addition to seeing the latest John McClane movie, I also had a chance to check out the new animated film Escape from Planet Earth and Beautiful Creatures.

Now this is a difficult review for me as I want to say nothing but wonderful things about the movies I see, but sometimes it just isn't possible. While I liked all three movies, I can't say they changed my world in anyway.

Let's just get this one out of the way:

I want to love this movie. I want desperately to tell you I love this movie. But I can't, I simply in good conscious, can't do it. Now I don't know if it has to do with the fact that I watched all four Die Hard films right before this latest one, but I left the marathon feeling really let down. It just wasn't a Die Hard film.

Don't get me wrong, Bruce Willis was amazing as always. But he wasn't the John McClane we all know and love. Firstly, this was the first Die Hard film to take place in a different country and while it shouldn't really make a difference, for some reason, it just bothered me right from the beginning. Secondly, this is the first time McClane had a sidekick that actually kicked ass. In all of the other film he had help but it was always from unsuspecting supporting actors whose characters were thrown into the chaos against their will. None of them ever picked up a gun and actually ran towards the danger. Bruce is there to rescue them, not stand back to back with them, killing bad guys. Let Bruce do his thing! 

There was also a lot more back and forth between McClane and the bad guys. A witty banter between the educated bad guys and the wise cracking blue collar cop from New York. I feel like this installment of Die Hard barely had any dialogue at all! At least nothing memorable like in the other four films. 

This one also had an interesting twist in the end. Again, this shouldn't be an issue, but if you're a true Die Hard fan you'll appreciate where I'm coming from. It's just not the same. It's not your standard Die Hard format and I just can't move past it. The movie on it's own, say with Tom Cruise or Jason Statham, would be good, acceptable. But presented as a Die Hard film, it just doesn't hold up. 

Believe me, it pains me to say this, it really does. I want to take this movie and put on a pedestal and tell you that there is yet one more Willis movie for all of us to worship. But I just can't. I'm going to try and see it again, maybe I'll have a different opinion if I see it alone but I really don't think I will. Again, I'm not saying it was a bad movie, not at all. I'm just saying it's not one I can consider to be a part of the Die Hard family. 

Go see it for yourself though and let me know what you think.

Here's one I almost didn't see:

I was actually thinking the other day that it's been a while since a good kids movie had come out. I don't think there's been anything animated since Rise of the Guardians, over two months ago at least and that just ain't fair! The kiddies need stuff to watch on the weekend too!

So here's Escape from Planet Earth. This one was a cute movie about aliens that go to Earth in response to a distress call they received. Only, when they land, they discover it was all a trick and are captured by the military and taken to Area 51 where they are told that if they help finish a "project" using technology from their planet, they'll be released unharmed. 

They meet other aliens who had been captured and promised the same thing and believe that everything the humans are telling them is true. Then they discover the "project" they are working on is actually a giant weapon the humans wish to use to destroy all of their home planets and the aliens then try to escape their captors. 

It's a fun film about family, friendship and bravery and one the kids will enjoy. It wasn't a laugh out loud classic like say Finding Nemo or Monsters Inc., but it was cute. There were also some pretty big stars lending their voices to the various characters so that was pretty cool too. 

And finally:

I had been looking forward to this one for weeks! The trailer looked really cool and it seemed like this one was going to be pretty sweet. 

Again, visually it was really lovely, and it was loaded with big stars (can you say bad guy from Die Hard with a Vengeance?!) But this one just seemed to drag. There wasn't nearly as much action as the trailers would have you believe and it seemed like the dialogue just went on and on. It wasn't terrible dialogue, just more then I expected I suppose.

Now I knew going into the film that this one was 2 hours long, but it really felt like 2 hours and that is never a good sign. All in all though, I did enjoy it. Interesting story, good cast and the ending made me happy. If you were someone who was interested in checking this one out, I say go for it.

I'll leave you with this picture of myself and my movie-sidekick Miranda at the Die Hard Marathon. It was an extremely wonderful day full of John McClane quotes, horribly bad for you foods and frequent bathroom breaks. Not a bad way to spend your day off.