Well, while most of us assumed that the mess that is A Good Day to Die Hard would be enough to put the once revered franchise out of its misery, it looks more like it’s gonna a X-Men 3 situation – they can’t end the franchise on that sour a note. Or that’s what I’d like to believe. Truth is despite bombing here in the states, the fifth Die Hard movie actually performed pretty well over seas, and that’s enough for FOX to move forward according to early reports.
Total Film is reporting that Ben Trebilcook (below) is already working on a treatment for the next movie. Trebilcook is famous for…well, nothing. Only one other movie he’s written has been released to this point, and that was a 2009 horror film called Deader Country which I have never seen. Despite that, this is still a better resume than Skip Woods had before he wrote the last one.
It seems as though this next installment would take place in Japan and is thought to be a little more realistic…
“It is extremely faithful to the franchise and characters and is a natural progression. It’s also a very plausible storyline… [There’s] the possibility producers might go back and find some other source material to base the next one on, like they did with the first and second. Mine though, I feel it could be the Rocky Balboa of the Die Hard franchise.” – Trebilcook
Personally, as upset as I was before, I can’t help but look at this as a possibility for redemption. Much like Terminator: Salvation could have been after Rise of the Machines, though it didn’t work out great there. My hopes are that they scale things back quite a bit. I thought Jai Courtney did alright as McClane Jr, and I love Mary Elizabeth Winstead, so if you want to bring them back that’s fine, but maybe with a plot this time? I wouldn’t mind even some cameos from Zeus or Holly or Al, but for the love of all that is holy, give me a goddamn story this time.
John McClane became an icon for overcoming the odds, but in the last movie it never felt like he was even in danger. He needs a challenge. He needs to bleed and be scared and give the impression that failure is a possibility.
Furthermore we need a real villain. One of the biggest reasons Die Hard is so much better than all its sequels is because Hans Gruber is excellent. He is on-screen almost as much as McClane, and that pays dividends. You become attached to the character, he’s not just another a-hole for John to shoot. Simon in the 3rd movie is probably the next best of the villains, but in the last movie, there really wasn’t anyone to latch onto. The closest we got was Alik, but with no back story or meaningful dialogue, the potential for a great character was squandered and we were left with little more than a nameless henchman. Create a strong adversary, give the audience some time with him, make his eventual death mean something.
I don’t know who that would have been in the fifth movie, but I want John McClane back.
Grizzly Bomb 