In the time-honored tradition of The Legionnaire, I am late in getting around to reviewing the Die Hard series in its entirety.  The original, Die Hard (1988), was addressed as a Christmas film because I had to give my opinion on whether it is a seasonally appropriate flick.  In short, I do not think of it as a Christmas movie, but rather an action film with that time of year as a backdrop.  The same can be said for its sequel, Die Hard 2 (1990).  In light of the predecessor’s success, I guess the producers did not want to stray from what they saw as a winning cinematic formula.  There are some minor differences, I suppose, the main one being that this one is set in an airport.  Otherwise, it is the same over-the-top silliness (to me), punctuated briefly by characters in distress crossing themselves to pray, Catholicism as visual Christianity at its finest.  Otherwise, I laughed often in this one, and perhaps you will, too, while reading.

Los Angeles police officer John McClane (Bruce Willis) is not laughing at the beginning of Die Hard 2 because his mother-in-law’s car is being towed.  You might think that the terminal cops would give John a break since they are both members of law enforcement, but no.  The vehicle is impounded and he is stranded waiting for his wife, Holly Gennero McClane (Bonnie Bedelia).  Using the wonders of modern technology, she is able to telephone from the airplane to talk to her husband and inform him that he will be there longer as her flight from the West Coast to Washington, D.C., is delayed.  As he is watching the passersby, he notices a group of plainclothes men moving through the crowd with a purpose, led by Colonel William Stuart (William Sadler).  We have met this man already, but the less said about that scene the better.  John follows a couple of the thugs into the baggage sorting area.  Because trouble seems to find John, he suspects these men are up to no good.  Get ready for the first of many gun fights.  In true John McClane fashion, he triumphs, barely, but one of his targets manages to escape.  The airport police get to the scene just in time to slow John’s momentum, much to his frustration.  They take him to meet their chief, Captain Carmine Lorenzo (Dennis Franz), who is not pleased by the celebrity cop, blaming John for all the trouble.  I guess I should mention that his adventures from the previous film have made him a celebrity.  No matter his fame, Captain Lorenzo does not see any potential danger. Because of this attitude, John takes the responsibility to further investigate the situation.  Getting the fingerprints off of one of the corpses, he faxes an image of them back to a friend in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Sergeant Al Powell (Reginald VelJohnson).  The information John receives back does not make sense.  The person whose identity goes with the fingerprints died two years previously serving in the Armed Forces.  He attempts to bring this information to Captain Lorenzo, who has moved to the control tower, but the head of airport security now has a bigger problem.  Colonel Stuart’s men have set up in a nearby church and have taken charge of all the functions related to takeoffs and landings.  They also have a list of demands.  Due to arrive soon is General Ramon Esperanza (Franco Nero), the deposed dictator of a South American country who was soft on the drug trade but hard on communism.  Colonel Stuart requests a special runway for the general’s plane because they intend to free the former ruler and escape with all his money and influence to another nation.  The manager of the tower, Ed Trudeau (Fred Thompson), is warned that if he attempts to reestablish communication with the circling planes, there will be consequences.  Heedless, Ed sends his immediate underling, chief engineer Leslie Barnes (Art Evans), to a new antenna site to connect them to their current hub.  John had been told to vacate the tower, but since Holly’s arrival is in jeopardy, he also moves in the direction of the antenna.  His instincts help save Leslie, but Colonel Stuart had prepared for this eventuality, blowing up the site.  Colonel Stuart then uses his computers to crash one of the circling planes into the tarmac.  To this point, the bad guys’ movements are a mystery until John is able to get a hold of one of their walkie talkies.  With inside information, he is able to be on hand when General Esperanza’s plane touches down, though John is unable to prevent an escape.  Still, with Leslie’s help, they are able to figure out that, with the range of their communication devices, Colonel Stuart cannot be far from their current location.  Once they are found, John calls for the assistance of a detachment of special forces soldiers led by Major Grant (John Amos).  In the resulting chase as the remainder of Colonel Stuart’s posse fleas, John notices one of the weapons he picks up from the villains is firing blanks.  The ammo clips have blue tape on them, as did Major Grant’s men, meaning the former are in on the scam.  John presents this evidence to Captain Lorenzo, who finally gives in to the notion that John might know what he is doing.  Despite this, an ambitious reporter on Holly’s flight, Dick Thornburg (William Atherton), has learned of the plane’s danger and is calling his station to get it on the evening news.  When the report breaks, it causes widespread panic at the airport, making it difficult for John to act.  Instead, he enlists the help of a friendlier reporter, Samantha Coleman (Sheila McCarthy), to use her company’s helicopter to make it to the plane provided to General Esperanza and Colonel Stuart.  Jumping from the helicopter to the wing of the 747 about to take to the air, and following some more kicking and punching, John releases a fuel container, falls to the ground, takes out a lighter, and sets the gasoline trail ablaze.  Boom!  John stumbles to where Holly is finally on the ground and the movie ends.

It is obviously appropriate that Die Hard 2 ends with a boom!  Aside from exploding airplanes, there is also a moment, after John fails to stop General Esperanza from being picked up by Colonel Stuart, that our protagonist launches himself into the air in an ejection seat to avoid a number of grenades that take an eternity to detonate.  It is enough time, though, for him to get into the pilot’s chair and pull the lever.  It is one of many improbable moments throughout the movie that are more laugh worthy than anything else.  What is less chucklesome is praying when you think you are about to die.  Holly does that as her plane is being forced to descend, out of fuel and in snowy conditions.  With her head tucked downward in the airlines’ version of the emergency position, the camera focuses on her as she crosses herself and mouths a plea to God.  In the introduction, I labeled this visual Christianity.  Catholicism lends itself to cinematic representations of the Faith because, unlike other sects outside of it and Orthodox practices, it is difficult to tell whether someone is a Christian or otherwise.  You can show someone making the Sign of the Cross and know that person’s Faith.  In some respects, this is not a bad thing.  There is nothing deviant about believing in God.  At the same time, it appears less mainstream in modern culture, which means you have to do something different in order to make sure the audience knows what they are looking at is somebody who believes in God.  With crossing ourselves to begin and end prayers, our easily distinguishable clergy, and other aspects of our practices, we Catholics say much about what we believe without speaking.  Then again, a person asking God to live may not necessarily mean that person is a follower of Jesus.  There is an old saying that there is no such thing as an atheist in the foxhole.  It refers to soldiers in battle, with death an imminent possibility, begging a Divine power for help in surviving their predicament.  Cinema and real life are full of examples of this happening.  It would be great if more people meant it.

It is difficult to tell after thirty-five years what was meant by Die Hard 2.  Action flicks usually take themselves pretty seriously, but the hokeyness of some of the stunts do not translate well to more modern audiences.  Besides, there is a lot of swearing, which is never ideal.  I may have an army of people disagreeing with me, but I will pass on this one.