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Bruce Willis reunites as rogue New York cop John McClane for the third Die Hard film, reuniting with John McTiernan, director of the original film, and working from an original spec script by Jonathan Hensleigh (Armageddon, The Saint) that was modified to fit the franchise. The film starts off well, pairing McClane with a streetwise civilian named Zeus, played by Samuel L. Jackson, whose star was just beginning to rise after 1994’s Pulp Fiction. The two are sent all over the city trying to solve riddles posed by a terrorist bomber (Jeremy Irons) with a connection to McClane’s past. Hensleigh’s script gets less interesting, however, when Irons’ games are revealed to be a distraction for a more standard bank heist scheme.
Die Hard 3 never musters the energy or excitement of either of its predecessors. Action sequences are fleeting and forgettable, and when a major set piece moment — a school bombing — turns out to be a red herring, it severely deflates the film’s third-act momentum. The final showdown with Irons, who seems miscast and under-utilized, is also underwhelming. The film is almost saved by Willis and Jackson’s charisma and banter, which includes a lot of racial subtext and good-natured joking. It’s also good to see Graham Greene (Dances with Wolves) and Colleen Camp (Clue‘s Yvette the maid) in smaller roles.