A Good Day to Die Hard

For four movies, John McClane somehow managed to find trouble on American soil. A Good Day to Die Hard changes that immediately by sending him to Russia.

McClane travels to Moscow after discovering that his estranged son Jack has been arrested. He does not realise that Jack is involved in something much bigger than a simple criminal case.

Within minutes of arriving, John is once again surrounded by gunfire, explosions and people who would very much like him dead.

Jai Courtney plays Jack McClane, John's son, who has clearly inherited more than a little of his father's stubbornness.

The relationship between John and Jack is the film's heart. They are angry with each other; they barely communicate, and neither one is particularly good at admitting when they are wrong.

Unfortunately for Jack, his father has arrived in the middle of an operation where subtlety would probably have been useful.

A Good Day to Die Hard pushes the franchise firmly into large-scale action territory.

The movie features vehicle chases through Moscow, helicopters, gun battles, and enormous explosions, giving John McClane one of the biggest playgrounds he's ever had.

It differs from the contained tension of the original Die Hard, but something unmistakably McClane remains: watching one man stumble into a situation that gets more ridiculous by the minute.

Amid all the action, the fifth Die Hard movie really centres on John and Jack trying to repair their relationship.

John believes Jack has thrown his life away. Jack sees his father as someone who was rarely around when he needed him. Neither has the full story.

Being chased across Russia by heavily armed criminals is hardly conventional family therapy, but for the McClanes it somehow feels appropriate.

A Good Day to Die Hard is easily the most divisive entry in the franchise. It moves away from the tighter, cleverer action-thriller structure that made the earlier movies so memorable and leans into something closer to a full-blown international action blockbuster.

Bruce Willis still brings flashes of the John McClane we know, and pairing him with his son gives the movie an interesting idea to work with.

It may not reach the heights of Nakatomi Plaza or Simon's game across New York, but as the fifth chapter in John McClane's increasingly unbelievable life, it still has a place in the story.