I hope everyone in the US passed a pleasant Independence Day. For the record, July grilling on this side of the Atlantic proved rather a riskier proposition.

We made the irresistible pilgrimage to witness the continuing adventures of Mr. McClane last night, and it didn't disappoint. Len Wiseman is rapidly becoming a most dependable guarantor of celluloid entertainment. Some of the dialogue was a bit clunky, but in terms of spectacle it was eminently more satisfying than many other recent offerings in the genre, and it did remain spiritually faithful to the series. The villains were sufficiently ambitious and over-equipped for regular law enforcement to handle, and John remained the wildcard who is both deeply cynical and yet still blinded by his commitment to the Thin Blue Line ideology. If he seemed a little more self-aware or salty this time out, one must understand that by now even our most beloved everyman has been quite seasoned by his life experiences. Timothy Olyphant was everything I hoped he would be as a villain - let's hope Hitman won't cause his star to sputter - while Justin Long delivered a much more measured performance than I feared would be the case. Even Kevin Smith's cameo was quite well accomplished. It certainly is not the equal of the original, and maybe not even of With A Vengeance, but I am definitely looking forward to watching it again. For a more intellectual review, I would suggest you go here. Otherwise, just rest assured that John McClane can still fuck a dude up, even in 2007.