Partly

It should surprise no one that I am absolutely in love with the character of John McClane. I know I've fangirled over him or his movies before.

So imagine my joy when I saw a a trailer for a new Die Hard movie a few months back. I hadn't heard anything about a new movie, mostly because while I'm a fan, I don't mix well with the other Die Hard fans. Not that should surprise anyone, either.

After I saw the trailer I did a little poking around to see what the buzz was. It wasn't good and reminded me why I don't fangirl in public about things like that. See, the fanBOYS didn't like that it was going to be rated PG-13. Imagine how much gnashing of teeth there was over the fact that the word fuck could only be used once in the movie. Sacrilege! There is no dialogue unless its peppered with four-letter inanity. They didn't like that it wouldn't be bloody enough or that it wouldn't be "gritty" enough.

I have that problem with a lot of my favorite characters. I gravitate toward the action (anti)hero type. I like dark and dangerous when it's tempered by justice and desperation. But while that type does tend to wield a violent sword (or gun) and tend to leave bodies in their wake, that is not why I like them. I like them because they don't want to do what they are doing, but are forced into by job or circumstance. They would rather not be doing what they do, even if they are good at it.

I also like that the mere fact they are action (anti)heroes means that they don't have time to spend in angst. Wallowing in angst will mean failure, so they have to pick up and go on. Defeat only comes from giving up. I like that. They suffer angst, but they fight through it.

John McClane is the original action (anti)hero. There is no way he should ever win. He fails more times then he succeeds and often his successes are only partial and rarely leads to the conclusion he wants. He wins in the end only because he is too stubborn and too desperate to give up. It also helps that by the end, he's so pissed off the other guys that they start to lose focus on what they want and start to play the game by John's rules.

John McClane is the wild card, the joker in the deck, the little guy who doesn't give up. It's the cowboy in me who loves that character. The same part of me that loves the lines in songs that say "I don't like to fight but I ain't scared to bleed" and "being criticized for standin' strong in a battle you can't win". Like I said, cowboy.

Anyhow, I went to see the newest installment in the Die Hard series -- Live Free or Die Hard. Even the title amuses me. It was good. Surprisingly so, in fact. They did a nice job of cleaning up McClane from the last installment. He was believably changed and cleaned up. Not perfect, but if he were, he wouldn't be McClane. He was a little more mature and a little smarter, but still the same character.

I liked the young hacker they paired him up with. Wonderfully believable, he wasn't quite up to McClane's action hero antics but grew into the role. I liked how they handled the bad guys, especially the main villain. They grew him into the role and it worked well.

I loved McClane's daughter who I feared was just going to be the usual helpless, scared female hostage. Instead she was competent and strong (which was another thing the fanboys carped about). She was, in fact, my idea of the perfect female hostage: even though she didn't manage to save herself, her actions were never never helpless or misogynistic. There is a whole post on the goodness of her character, even though she was just a hostage and had a relatively small role.

When leaving the theatre, I grabbed a small version of the large movie poster. I don't do posters, mind. I don't. I just had to have that one. As we walked out, I said I need to squee now. Yay!

When my daughter gave me her usual disbelieving look I added, Sorry, I just can't help myself.

She answers, Well, admitting you have a problem is the first step in getting help,

*shakes head* I'm sure she was kidding.