A Good Day to Die Hard Movie Review

A Good Day to Die Hard
                                                                   

A Good Day to Die Hard is an American action movie released in 2013. This movie is the fifth installment of the famous movie series of Die Hard, which started at 1988. This film is written by Skip Woods and directed by John Moore. The iconic character of John McClane is played here by Bruce Willis, just like the previous movies of this franchise. Other major characters of A Good Day to Die Hard are played by Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch, Yuliya Snigir and Sergei Kolesnikov.

In A Good Day to Die Hard, detective John McClane learns that his son is in a great danger in Russia. So John heads to Russia to bring his son back. His visit turns into a big mission where he gets a new companion, Jack McClane.

Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney in A Good Day to Die Hard

Plot:

A Good Day to Die Hard starts in Russia where an ex-billionaire named Yuri is held in prison and people are demonstrating for him. He is believed to be a political prisoner and is held captured by a plan made by a corrupted government high official, who is also the candidate for home minister in the next election. The officer goes to prison on the day before the trial and threatens Yuri that if Yuri does not hand him a special file, Yuri’s life will be at risk. Yuri does not get scared by this threat and says he will give the officer nothing.

At that night, a young man shoots and kills someone in a bar stating that he is working for Yuri. When he is captured and then sent to interrogation, he tells the police that he will testify against Yuri, if they hold his trial with Yuri’s.

Meanwhile in USA, detective John McClane finds the whereabouts of his son, Jack, and learns that he is in a prison in Russia. So John heads to Russia and reaches there on the day when his son is going to be on the court. His taxi gets stuck in jam on the way to the court so he leaves the taxi and starts walking. When he gets near the court, in his detective eyes, he finds something strange happening around there.

At the court, Yuri and that young man is present. But before the trial begins, a bomb explodes. The young man takes Yuri out of there safely just before some armed people enter there looking for Yuri. The young man then takes a delivery van to move Yuri from there, but before he starts, John comes there and finds the young man as his son Jack, who is an undercover agent working for C.I.A. John’s presence delays Jack and Yuri’s escape and meanwhile, the armed people starts to chase them in their car. To save Jack, John starts to go after the armed group.

After a lot of chasings and actions, finally John and Jack manage to take Yuri to a secret safe house of USA in Russia. An agent was there. That agent and Jack convinces Yuri to give them the secret file in exchange of Yuri's and his daughter’s safety. Yuri says the key to that file is located at a hotel and he calls his daughter to be there. Then some armed men attack there and kill the agent. John, Jack and Yuri escape from there and go to that hotel.

At that hotel, Yuri finds his daughter. But those armed men again attack there and take Yuri’s daughter, who then turns out to be a team member of those armed men lead by that corrupted official and also against her father. Taking Yuri, his daughter and the secret key, they head for the location where the file is hidden. Some other people of that group try to kill Jack and John but fail. Jack and John manage to kill everyone in that room before being attacked by some more soldiers on a helicopter, but finally escape from there alive.

Yuri is taken to a secret vault in Chernobyl along with his daughter and the soldiers. Reaching there, the true face of Yuri’s daughter gets exposed. We see that the whole plan is different than what we’ve seen till now. John and Jack reaches there and soon they find the actual plan. They start to go after the original villains.     

My reviews about A Good Day to Die Hard:

First of all, to all Die Hard fans: prepare for disappointment with A Good Day to Die Hard.

I’m starting the review by stating that, like thousands of other people, I’m a big fan of the Die Hard series. But a lot of things I like about all the other movies of this franchise are absent here in A Good Day to Die Hard.

The plot is not bad itself. It has some twists, but still it didn't seem strong enough. Although the ending of A Good Day to Die Hard was pretty predictable but that is not a big issue, because it has been the case of all the Die Hard movies. These movies are never about exciting endings. The screenplay here also seemed good.

I don’t need to say anything about the acting of Bruce Willis. All other artistes have also done a good job in A Good Day to Die Hard. The dialogues are good, except the dialogues of Bruce Willis’. His dialogues severely missed the charm from the older movies of Die Hard. The make ups were also okay.

The lighting and the camera works are good in A Good Day to Die Hard.  The special effects are brilliant. Specially, the car chasing sequence at the beginning was beautiful.

Like the previous movies, A Good Day to Die Hard does not contain any nude scene or any other scenes which may make it inappropriate for children.

Now, to talk about the things which I didn’t like about A Good Day to Die Hard, I should start with the plot. In all the previous four movies of this series, detective John McClane is put is such a situation that he has no other way than to fight. But in here its not the same case. A Good Day to Die Hard was completely about the mission of his son Jack, and John just runs with him all the time and fights. This is the first movie of this series where John is out of USA, so A Good Day to Die Hard was supposed to be very interesting about how he is surviving in a foreign land. But a lot of details are ignored and the director has completely failed to use this at his advantage.  Other than the location, almost nothing gave us the feeling that he was out of his comfort zone.

One of the most interesting sides about the Die Hard movies were the bold, dam care, rough and tough and bad-ass attitude of John McClane. But those seemed all gone now, in A Good Day to Die Hard, we see him as a softer person. I really missed his attitude here, where he had the guts to tell the villains that he was coming to get them. The villain in A Good Day to Die Hard is also not as strong as the previous villains and his character didn’t have the strong personality like them.

Remember the scene in Die Hard (part 1) where John’s wife got sure that John was alive by seeing the fury of an enemy and said “Only John can make someone that angry.”? I badly missed that John McClane in A Good Day to Die Hard.

The action sequences of A Good Day to Die Hard also didn’t look realistic like the previous films. How come he (and the villains) made such a mess in Moscow but almost no police was after them? Coming to Russia as a tourist, how can he get away after creating such a havoc? The part where Jack cut the ropes but the people standing behind him didn’t notice that at all didn’t seem logical. Somewhere over internet I read that, John McClane has killed 54 men in total in all the previous movies. But in the car chase sequence at A Good Day to Die Hard, he seems to have harmed (and killed) a lot of normal people, which doesn’t match with his reputation.

Several rumors are already all over internet about the Die Hard series. Some say, Die Hard will end with the sixth movie, which will take place at Japan. Another suggests, the importance of Jack McClane’s character given in this film, international location, political involvements – all these indicates that the time of John McClane has come to an end and his son will continue the series. Let’s see what happens in future days.

So, overall, although its not a bad movie itself, but A Good Day to Die Hard fails to satisfy a Die Hard fan. It doesn’t matter whether I recommend or not, action movie fans will watch this one just for its name and awesomeness of its prequels. But I’ll conclude by saying, I was disappointed by A Good Day to Die Hard.

How did you like it? What are the things you missed in A Good Day to Die Hard? Share with others in the comments.

To know more about it:

IMDB Link: A Good Day to Die Hard IMDB

Wikipedia Link: A Good Day to Die Hard Wiki

No matter what this review or any review says, you must watch this movie if you are a fan of the famous Die Hard series. Click this link to buy or rent this movie from Amazon: A Good Day to Die Hard Movie

Not Suitable For Children Movie Review

Not Suitable For Children

                                                                    

Not Suitable For Children is an Australian romantic comedy drama movie released in 2012. This film is written by Michael Lucas and directed by Peter Templeman. The three main characters of Not Suitable For Children are played by Ryan Kwanten, Sarah Snook and Ryan Corr.

In the movie Not Suitable For Children, we see a man who is going to lose his ability to become a father soon due to his physical condition. Knowing this, he becomes desperate to impregnate a woman in a very small time frame.

Ryan Kwanten and Sarah Snook in the movie Not Suitable For Children

Plot:         

Jonah is a guy who lives with his two best friends, Gus and Stevie. They spend a good time partying with their friends. At one party, Jonah finds a lump in his testicle. Next day he visits a doctor and upon diagnosis, they find that Jonah has got testicular cancer. The good news is, the cancer is in very primary stage and Jonah is supposed to get a 100% recovery after the doctors remove his testicle. He can also continue his regular sex life after the operation. But the bad news is, this operation will make him infertile, so he can’t be a father after the operation.

The doctor suggests Jonah to contact a sperm bank who can save his sperms for future. Jonah does so and finishes all the procedures. Then he returns home and informs Gus and Stevie. They have a party on the next Friday and Jonah keeps the date for that party unchanged.

Soon, Jonah receives a call from the sperm bank. After going there, Jonah learns that he has a rare medical condition, for which, his sperms cannot be preserved. So, the only option left for him to become a father is to impregnate a woman before the operation.

Jonah starts his journey to look for the woman who will bear his baby. At first, he meets his ex-girlfriend, who is even irritated by Jonah meeting him. After her rejection, Jonah asks another of his girlfriends, who also rejects to his proposal. Jonah then goes to the doctor and shifts the date of his operation to three weeks later. He continues his search by asking all the women he has dated in his life, but none of them accepts his proposal. Jonah doesn’t say anything about his cancer to any of them.

He then looks at the possibility to adopt a baby. But he learns that he can’t adopt one because he has cancer. Stevie fixes him a meeting with a lesbian couple from her office, but the meeting doesn’t go in favor of Jonah. Stevie then makes arrangement for Jonah to meet another woman from her office who wants to have a child, but that plan also fails.

Jonah becomes frustrated. At one time, when he was discussing the whole thing with Stevie, he said her that he will let the mother of his child live as she wants, will not make any problem with her choice of career, friends or boyfriends. He also says that he will give the house where he is living currently to that lady. Stevie gets interested after hearing these offers. After thinking for a whole day, she agrees to have Jonah’s baby. But before agreeing finally, she makes Jonah read and sign on her written agreements.  

Then they start to sneak out at night and go to a cheap hotel to have sex. Being good friends, at first it seems weird to both of them, but soon they overcome this. They have only five days before Jonah’s operation and they waste the first night. They use the next four nights to the fullest. These things also create a stronger and more intimate relation between them.

On the day before Jonah’s operation, Jonah and Stevie have some kind of fight on the morning, where both of them regret their decision of choosing each other. Jonah has a party at his home that night. His ex-girlfriend comes to that party. She somehow learns about Jonah’s situation and this time, she herself offers Jonah to have his child. Jonah feels happy about it and they start to have sex right away, as it is the last night before Jonah’s operation. But Jonah refrains himself at the last moment. Just then, Stevie comes to the party looking for Jonah.

My reviews about Not Suitable For Children:

First of all, Not Suitable For Children seemed as a good romantic drama.

The plot of Not Suitable For Children was good, although it was predictable. Any romantic drama fan can predict the ending. Although it may not go exactly as you can guess (yes, it will not go exactly as everyone’s expectation) but still, the major part of the ending will not surprise you. The good thing about the plot of Not Suitable For Children is, it seems realistic, it’s not filled with too much drama or emotions.

The acting and the makeups of all the major characters in Not Suitable For Children were good. The characters were good looking, specially, Sarah Snook looked stunning. The character of Ryan Kwanten looked a little weird, but I think this is how the director had wanted it to be.

The dialogues and the screenplay of Not Suitable For Children were good. Same can be said about direction. But the comedy elements of this movie may seem inadequate as a proper comedy movie.

  

There were some nude scenes in Not Suitable For Children. For those scenes and also for the plot, you should not watch it with children.

To me, the basic theme of Not Suitable For Children seemed kind of similar the the movie Friends With Kids. The review of that movie can be found here: Friends With Kids Movie Review.

So, finally, Not Suitable For Children seemed like a pretty good movie. Although I’m not a big fan of romantic movies, but I still enjoyed watching it. I’d recommend watching Not Suitable For Children to all movie lovers.  

Have you watched Not Suitable For Children? How did you like it? Share in comments.

To know more about this movie:

IMDB Link: Not Suitable For Children IMDB

Wikipedia Link: Not Suitable For Children Wiki

To buy or rent this movie from Amazon or to watch online, click here :  Not Suitable For Children Movie

The Pact Movie Review

The Pact
                                           

The Pact is an American horror mystery thriller movie released in 2012. This movie is written and directed by Nicholas McCarthy. The Pact has a very small set of characters, which is played by Caity Lotz, Casper van Dien, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Haley Hudson, Sam Ball, Mark Steger, Agnes Bruckner (whom we saw also in Breaking The Girls) and Dakota Bright. 

The movie The Pact is about a lady who tries to investigate when her sister goes missing, but finds that the whole story is much more bigger than it appears.

A scene from the movie The Pact

Plot:
At the beginning of The Pact, we see a lady named Nicole, who is living alone, talks with her sister about coming to their mother’s funeral. Her sister, Annie, refuses to come to her abusive mother’s house and they have a little argument over it. Nicole then talks with her little girl who is living with one of Nicole’s cousin. Although Nicole is alone in the house, over the video chat, her daughter asks her about the man who is standing behind her. She looks back and finds no one there. Then she hears some noise in the closet. To check it, she enters there and disappears. 

Her sister Annie comes to that house when Nicole is not found by anyone. Annie finds Nicole’s laptop and some other scattered things around the house. She also finds Nicole’s cell phone in the closet. On the next day, she attends her mother’s funeral where her cousin brings Nicole’s daughter. After the funeral, three of them comes back to the house and plans to stay the night there. Late at night Annie wakes up by some noise and finds some food lying on the floor of the kitchen. Her cousin seems missing. She tries to escape from the house taking Nicole’s daughter but some invisible force tries to keep her inside the house. She finally manages to escape with the little girl.

She goes to the police but nobody believes her. They indirectly suspect her for the missing case of Nicole and her cousin. But one officer offers her his help with investigating this case. She stays the night at a hotel, where she finds a massage about a place that has come to her phone last night. She checks the map with her phone and finds a woman’s photo there. That night, she has a nightmare about the decapitated body of that lady and some force which is keeping her inside the room.

On the next morning, with the help of the police officer, she discovers a hidden room in her late mother’s house. The room has holes on the walls to see all around the house. The officer can’t find much in there. So she then visits one of her high school friend, who is a strange blind girl with some sort of paranormal power. Annie then takes the girl and her caretaker to the house. The girl finds someone’s presence in the room and at one point starts screaming the name ‘Judas’. Referring Annie’s mother, she also says that she didn’t want anyone to know. Then she becomes sick and her caretaker takes her back from there. They all also see the ghost of a lady.

Annie does some research online and finds out that Judas is a serial killer who is responsible for some killings, including a teacher in the nearby area. She finally finds that, the victim of Judas is the lady who’s ghost she has seen in the house. She has also seen some photos of that lady with her mother. She then finds that her mother had a brother about whom they don’t know. In the meantime, the police officer finds some strange sign in one of the photos taken in that house. He goes there to investigate, but gets killed by someone.

Annie calls her friend again about the mystery. Taking her suggestions, Anny goes to that hidden room again to find the concealed truth about the house, her mother and about Judas.

A scene from the movie The Pact

My review about The Pact:
First of all, I liked this movie The Pact. The whole movie seemed well written and well directed.

The plot of The Pact is actually good and attractive. At first, it started as a ghost story, then moved the momentum to some kind of a detective one and ends in mixing these two types. And the blend of these two seemed really good. But I must say, the director has cleverly avoided making everything clear in The Pact. Some of the mysteries are kept open to the viewers’ imagination. In the whole movie, not much of the characters’ background is shown and the focus is always fixed to the current events. The screenplay of The Pact is also brilliant.

Other than the ghost parts, some other parts are there on The Pact also which didn’t seem much realistic, like, how a man can stay hidden for so many years, what has happened to Nicole and her cousin and so on. But these things will not harm your viewing experience of The Pact at all. 

The acting of all the characters in The Pact were pretty good. The dialogues were okay as well. The special effects, specially when Annie was being pulled in the air was brilliant. The make ups were also good, specially of Judas’s. The leading character, Annie was an eye candy.

The horror elements in The Pact were good enough to scare anyone. As this movie concentrates on the detective story also, so it was not full of horror scenes. But whatever is there, will give you a good thrill. The Pact keeps the tension high from the beginning to the end. Some scenes were scary enough to give you a chill down your spine.

The lighting, camera works and the sound effects were nothing more or less than the perfect. 

There is no nudity in The Pact. So, other than some graphic scenes, the whole movie is okay for children.

So, overall, The Pact is a good horror thriller. We usually don’t get to see such a worthy horror movie everyday. I’d recommend watching The Pact to all movie fans.

What are your comments about The Pact? Share in the comments.

To know more about it:
IMDB link: The Pact movie IMDB
Wikipedia Link: The Pact movie Wiki
Additional resource:  This page has a director’s interview about The Pact. Don’t see this if you haven’t already watched this movie, because it contains spoiler.  But after watching the movie, this interview should help you to find some answers. The link is : http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3202946/director-nicholas-mccarthy-ties-up-loose-ends-on-the-pact/

Ending Explanation of The Pact :
This part contains spoiler, so I’ve written the below in white font. Don’t read this if you haven’t watched The Pact. To make it visible, select the below paragraph with your mouse:

The same color of Judas and Annie’s eye suggest that, Judas is Annie’s father. We get this hint when her cousin talks about Annie’s eyes color and says that her mother didn’t have them, so they must’ve came from her father.  Judas actually dies at the end, what Annie saw after that was her dream. And the name “The Pact” refers to the pact between Annie’s mother and Judas. 

To buy or rent this movie from Amazon or to watch online, click here: The Pact Movie