Die Hard 5 Getting Mixed Reviews As Trailer Debuts Online

Die Hard 5 saw its trailer debut online this week, and while it has earned some breathless anticipation from action fans eager to see Bruce Willis blow things up again, die-hard Die Hard fans have had a more mixed reaction.

Rembert Browne and Dan Silver of Grantland.com reviewed the trailer for A Good Day To Die Hard, which first appeared online Friday. Though Silver noted that he’s a huge fan of the Die Hard series, he had a difficult time getting excited for Die Hard 5 after the series appeared to overstay its welcome.

He wrote:

“Die Hard is the Joan Rivers of film franchises. It’s had so much work done to it that 1988’s taut, straightforward, hardcore cat-and-mouse action thriller would gasp in horror if it ever saw what it would become in 2013. With each passing film, Die Hard’s kernels of plausibility and decorum seem to shrivel away. It’s ironic, because there was a time when action films were maligned for being too Die Hard (Speed = Die Hard on a bus; Cliffhanger = Die Hard on a mountain), yet now it appears that for Bruce Willis to top-line an action film solo it needs to be connected in some way to Die Hard (and if the third and fourth installments are any indication, all a film needs to be called Die Hard is Willis playing someone called John McClane, a grandiose situation McClane is unwillingly shoved into, and a moment where he can shoot the bad guy and say “yippee ki-yay, motherf—-r”).”

Silver noted that he’s a huge fan of the series, and though he hated the fourth installation in the Die Hard series, Live Free or Die Hard, he still enjoyed it on face value as a summer action movie. He predicts the same kind of reaction with Die Hard 5.

Chris Burns of Slash Gear struck a much more optimistic tone. He spoke highly of the trailer, and though it appeared that Die Hard 5 will feature some lesser-known actors alongside Bruce Willis, “(w)hat’s important here is that there’s explosions – lots of explosions.”

The Atlantic Wire‘s Richard Lawson also seemed enthusiastic for Die Hard 5, writing:

“We’re pretty excited about this, as the last one was surprisingly good, and there really isn’t anyone on this planet who doesn’t like Bruce Willis. That dude has been really good at maintaining his career, hasn’t he?”

Here is the trailer for Die Hard 5, so you can judge for yourself:

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