When the computers of the FBI's Cybercrime Division are hacked, the authorities decide to round up all the hackers they think could possibly have been capable of perpetrating the crime.

Detective John McClane - who is having issues with his daughter and her boyfriend, is just about to go home when he gets a call to pick up computer hacker Matt Farrel, but they haven't even got out of his apartment when the shooting starts.

John and Matt in the apartment

After a narrow escape Matt is taken to the FBI and en-route, the traffic lights everywhere start to go completely manic.

FBI Deputy Director Miguel Bowman (Cliff Curtis - Last Airbender, Runaway Jury) wants to take over with Matt, John will here none of it as he figures that Matt's in real danger of being killed if he's not there to protect him.

The Deputy Director agrees and John takes Matt in tow, but once in the car with the feds, they are diverted into a dead end where they're shot at from a helicopter where Matt recognises Mai Linh's (Maggie Q - Nikita) voice over the radio.

Meanwhile, all computerised systems in the United States begin failing, starting with an Anthrax scare at the FBI building..

Maggie Q - Mai Linh

This is just the beginning for Matt and John however as they discover that this is possibly a 'fire sale' - where the economy, transportation and power are all hit by the hackers in order to bring down the government of a country - in this case, the USA.

Having discovered this, they have to make their way to the main power plant in West Virginia that supplies the eastern seaboard, where they meet Mai Linh face to face.

I worried about what this film would deliver when I saw what classification it had been given (15 here in the UK), as John McClane has always been famous for that, 'yippee ki-yay m...' (yes, you know the rest) and not exactly being polite with the rest of his language either.

However, this film contains hardly any profanities, which surprised me and is one of the few films I have seen where the action and plot can remain fairly lifelike - well, about as lifelike as any action film can be - and not be ruined by a lack of profane language. Given the circumstances the main protagonists are put into, this is not only a shock, but a big thumbs up to the director (Len Wiseman) and screen writers too (Mark Bomback from a story by Mark Bomback and David Maconi, which itself was prompted by an article by John Carlin called 'A Farewell To Arms' utilising certain characters created by Roger Thorp). Phew!

Cyril Raphaelli was put to excellent use as one of Gabriel's men and used his expertise of both martial arts and Parkour (a free-running sport created by his friend David Belle), which adds greatly to the action, whilst seeing Tim Russ turn up without his Star Fleet uniform was quite a surprise too. Of course, there's Bruce, who portrayal of the ageing, laconic police detective, who's far too over-protective of his long-suffering daughter is masterful and whilst some of the anally retentive watchers will be screaming, "They can't do that!" or, "That would never happen," this movie is a superb sequel.

Where many sequels (which admit it, was the case in Die Hard 2) tend to almost repeat the plot of the original and just change the backdrop, this movie is an excellent, stand-alone story that just happens to utilise a well-known character to its best advantage to come up with a winner.

Whilst the 15 certification is definitely warranted, don't despair, this has everything you'll want (except the language) from a Bruce Willis Die Hard.

Easily worth five stars.

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