Matisse van Rossum’s review published on Letterboxd:
I'm probably gonna be pretty unpopular for not giving Die Hard the perfect 5 star rating that everyone else gives it, but trust me, it's not because it isn't great, it's just more a matter of personal taste. I've never been a huge fan of action films in general. It's just not a genre that gets me pumped up, and that's probably because I've seen a lot of really bad action movies. And I'm not talking about action movies that are so bad they're hilarious, like Road House, because I love those kinds of movies. I'm just talking about action movies that are so bad, they're bad. Movies like that have kind of ruined the genre for me. Fortunately, Die Hard is neither of those kinds of movies. It's an action movie that actually works, despite its occasional campiness.
Bruce Willis is really the ideal action hero, because he's just so darn relatable. He's got such an earnest personality that just seeps into his performances, and this is why I love him in films like Pulp Fiction, and now Die Hard. John McClain isn't the kind of action star that just comes in, stone cold know-it-all-already bad ass, and saves the day. He's fallible, and when it comes down to it, he's really just trying to make it through the day. This time though, making it through the day involves taking down a bunch of wildly stereotypical Germans and the less stereotypically German Alan Rickman, and preventing them from pulling off a heist. This makes him a much more interesting and likable character. Although I must say, other than Willis, Rickman, and the guy who I only know as the dad from Family Matters, I don't like any of the other characters, and their screen time bores me to death.
Dad from Family Matters provides some very enjoyable comic relief, but I don't really have much more to say about him other than he just cracks me up. Alan Rickman really deserves a mention though. He's an actor that I never know whether to take seriously or not, but I love that about him. He always manages to be simultaneously hilarious and brilliant and though it's a quality that confounds me, it's great. Hans Gruber is just a great action villain because he has a beard and an accent and exudes an air of certainty and control. He's a stereotype before the stereotype existed. But dammit, his henchmen annoy the piss out of me with their sweatpants and their terrible haircuts. Fortunately, I got to see all of them shot or blown up, so it ended up being satisfying.
To just reiterate, this is a great movie. I enjoyed it. I'm not saying it's bad. The only reason I'm giving it 3.5 instead of 5 stars is that I just get bored with action films. As much fun as I was having with Die Hard, by the time it was over, I was ready for it to be over. I can only see so many explosions and gunfights before I just want something else. But this is definitely an excellent movie, and the epitome of good action films. It's hard to find one better executed than Die Hard, and even harder to find one with better one-liners. Because, oh my god, the one-liners. Superb. Just superb.