Die Hard 2 (1990)

Director: Renny Harlin

Cast: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Atherton, Reginald VelJohnson*

Have I Seen it Before: Sure, I mean, I’m not stopping everything around certain major holidays to force whoever is in my proximity to watch it like certain other films. But I’ve probably seen it twice or so over the years.

Did I Like It: Oddly, yes? Sure, this might not be the little sequel that could that became Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995). There are parts that are a rehash of the original, sure, but there is an obligatory and appropriate expanding of the scope here. Where Die Hard (1988) is an oftentimes claustrophobic journey up and down the Nakatomi Tower, this spreads out the action and raises the stakes.

The cast surrounding Willis—a little more dour, as somebody bothered to tell him he’s a movie star—is also a delight, with the main threat coming from William Sadler and John Amos, two actors I’m bound to be delightfully surprised to see in things. The Grim Reaper and Chairman Fitzwallace causing trouble for John McClane and America? That’s pitch enough for a movie.

I’m even willing to overlook the fact that most of the plot hinges on the image quality of faxed fingerprints. I think I am, anyway. At least this isn’t one of the bloated, inept sequels almost completely unrelated to the original that we got in more recent years.

*Right out of the gate, this review is already running havoc with the in house style here on the site. You might want to call the movie Die Harder, but that’s not the real title of the movie. Also, the first three cast members credited after Willis appear in the film for a combined 15 minutes and each appears less interested in being in the same place with Willis for longer than they have to for more than 30 seconds.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

Director: Renny Harlin

Cast: Lisa Wilcox, Danny Hassel, Tuesday Knight, Robert Englund

Have I Seen it Before: I honestly don’t remember. I’m going to hazard a guess and say I have not.

Did I Like It: The hoary cliche is to say that no movie in the Nightmare series beyond the original completely sucked. It’s reductive, of course, especially considering for my money the first film is likely over validated, but I would say both that the seventh is far and way the best film of the series*.

But there is a reason that the sequels receive mostly side eye from people. The novelty of Dream Warriors is long since gone, connections to the beginnings of the series have disappeared (a quick look-see into the history of the series indicates Wes Craven was even interested in continuing his re-connection with the series, but New Line myopically had no interest in his pitch), and what we’re left with is movies that bleed together and can’t even manage to entertain in the depraved way that even the basest horror films can accomplish.

One might think that I made a typo in the preceding paragraph when I referred to “movies,” but I assure you that was intentional. This movie is so blandly inconsequential that I was tempted for more than few minutes to write my first ever dual review, as this and The Dream Child (1989) are basically interchangeable. Even a schlocky—but somehow still over-validated—movie maker like Renny Harlin only manages to prove why he shouldn’t have briefly been given the keys to a-list movies, and only produces journeyman level work. He had to have either sold his soul to some supernatural entity (who isn’t Freddy Krueger (Englund)) or really delivered this one under budget to get where he got. That second one tends to make a lot more sense, because after Cutthroat Island (1995), everyone came to their senses.

*And, in an opinion that is likely to get things thrown at me, the best film Wes Craven ever made.