Die Hard 4.0

John McClane (Willis), youth-defining action hero of the old school, returns after a twelve year absence to battle cyber-terrorists planning to bring down the entire US infrastructure. It turns out the bad guys can now explode you over the internet, as Long's computer geek finds out when his hacker buddies are wiped out. Only McClane (iconic white vest flashing tantalisingly beneath his sweatshirt but sadly never getting the full reveal) has what it takes to keep him alive while simultaneously annihilating hordes of goons on his way to the big showdown with head baddie Gabriel (Olyphant). Though Die Hard 4.0 has been severely trimmed to allow for a teen-friendly rating Stateside, Willis unquestionably still gives good thump, and the traditional fisticuffs and gunplay are immensely satisfying, even if there are way less blood squibs than there used to be. But some of the more extravagant set pieces are beyond silly, Wiseman not quite grasping that the overblown, CGI laden action flick died a death a couple of years ago, and might struggle to find its place in the new world of Bourne and stripped down Bond. Also letting the side down is an unsavoury waft of misogyny and some badly edited dubbing that betrays the post-production removal of all the motherfucking. Gripes aside though, we've ended up with a pretty decent action film that's not necessarily a great Die Hard film. It's almost enough to make you think Rambo IV isn't such a bad idea after all. [Paul Greenwood]