Even when the script wanders into cynical overkill, Harlin makes sure the violence has some impact, some moral consequence, by sketching in characters for a few representative victims.
Die Hard 2 delivers everything you'd expect from the title's promise. Trouble is, Die Hard 2 really didn't need to wallow in graphic violence to be a good, engaging picture.
Even in the action genre, there is such a thing as overkill. Die Hard 2: Die Harder pleads guilty to the charge but has enough redeeming plot twists to compensate for the excess.
A number of scenes have been staged with satisfying kinetic flair, and Willis once again makes an appealing superhero. Yet without that great big booby-trapped skyscraper to hold the action together, the suspense dissipates.
The filmmakers seem to be operating under the assumption that the way you top a successful movie is by making one that's louder, cruder and more violent.
Bruce Willis wonders aloud how it could happen to him again, but dons the white singlet anyway for this second hugely entertaining slice of action hokum.
Though it has an inventive and unexpected plot twist, Die Hard 2 lacks credibility. "Die Hard" was that rare modern action picture with a wholly believable plot.
