I first saw Die Hard with a Vengeance when I was 9 years old. I hadn't seen Die Hard yet, but I had seen plenty of other R rated action movies up to that point. My parents were the fucking coolest and let me watch pretty much anything I wanted as long as I didn't repeat any bad words I heard (jokes on them though, I became an eloquent Bad Worder by third grade), and as long as my grades were good we got to go the video store every weekend and I could pick out a movie.  And one day that movie was Die Hard with a Vengeance. There was just something that seemed so cool about the VHS cover in my local Video Central. The one that has my boy Bruce sitting in front of a ball of fire looking like absolute hell. It also didn't hurt that the title was Die Hard with a Vengeance. "Yea, I want to get that" I told my mom.  

I remember being so invested in it, more so than any other movie I'd seen before. The film's hero was an absolute loser, hungover and suspended from his job, and he really didn't feel like catching a bad guy. I had never seen that before. A hero that seemed human. He wasn't super ripped, or even that great of a fighter. In fact, he seemed to be better at taking a beating rather than giving one. This is how I found out about the Everyman Hero. The guy anyone can relate to. And I was fucking hooked. 

Truth be told, this is the film that made me fall in love with movies. I was always drawn to the medium, there is one home video in particular of me as a toddler, sitting about 6 inches away from the TV, eating a bag of sour cream and onion flavored Lays (an act that I still perform to this day when I'm high and often when I'm not). 

But for whatever reason, Die Hard with a Vengeance just clicked with me in a way other movies hadn't before. I was delighted to find that this was a third installment of a franchise, and immediately sought out the other two. I loved them of course, but not as much as Vengeance.  As I got older, I was able to realize that Die Hard is in fact a better movie (it's perfect) and Die Harder is a 90s action must, but Vengeance was, is, and forever will be my favorite. 

Spoilers for Die Hard with a Vengeance to follow. 

Director John McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard) starts this shit off with a bang and shows us a department store in downtown New York blowing up first thing in the morning. The psycho who did it calls up the police and says if John McClane doesn't play his game, shit is gonna be fucked. 

This all happens within the first 90 seconds of the movie. It's incredible. McTiernan has masterfully laid out the stakes and characters and tons of exposition effortlessly, and the movie just goes from there. It's a wonderful set up. 

And then we get to John McClane. Well actually, we see his fellow officers looking down at John McClane, disappointment showing on all of their faces. John coughs and coughs. He looks very hungover, asks for too much Aspirin and lights up a cigarette while the Captain goes over his morning reports. John makes it very clear that he doesn't give a shit anymore. He is once again separated from his wife, Holly, and he's freshly suspended and seemingly on the verge of being let go. McClane is at rock bottom, yet all he cares about is getting back to his TV and beer. "Why me? What does this have to do with me?!" he asks his boss, who responds with "I have no idea he just said it had to be you!"

McClane sighs, "It's nice to be needed."

Bruce Willis is so totally present and perfect in this movie, still cracking wise in the face of danger, but this time with more annoyance in his voice. John McClane is tired. He fought life hard and at this point he's figured he lost hard too. He's ready to give up and become a "toilet bug" as his boss calls him. But if John doesn't do his job, then people will die, and no matter how down he is he's still gonna do his fucking job. Because that's just who John McClane is, and Willis conveys a lifetime of regret with a single glance and sigh. Bruce has always been my favorite actor, and this movie is a real testament to what a great actor and movie star he can be when he wants to at least. 

McClane is a straight up asshole and he knows it, hell he may even hate himself for it a little, but he's still gotta get the bad guy, even if he doesn't want to. Because who else is gonna do it? Time and again we see McClane trying to save people. He pushes people to safety when he thinks a nearby trash can is about to explode. He yells at people on a subway to get as far away as possible before a bomb actually goes off. He tells his friend to get down and cover his head during a car chase. Character through action. If McClane is talking, he's usually talking some kind of shit. That or he's actually using his detective skills to figure shit out. Those are his only two modes when it comes to words, but his actions speak loud and clear. That's what so great about this movie, even if you hadn't seen Die Hard before this (like me) you still know exactly the kind of hero that McClane is. It's directly connected to the first, yes, but in terms of character development this film could stand on its own. 

You can't talk about Die Hard with a Vengeance without talking about Samuel L. Jackson. I mean, duh, he's amazing in the movie, because he's Samuel L. Jackson, but him and Willis have genuine chemistry together. They hate each other, but  eventually they respect each other, which makes them like each other. Honestly, the pairing was so successful that every installment that followed Vengeance had McClane with a sidekick to banter back and forth with. But in this house, Die Hard is a trilogy so we don't have to worry about that. The point is, Jackson was a welcome addition to the franchise. 

As I said, this movie is not as good as the original Die Hard (McClane surfs on a dump truck for fucks sake), but I enjoy it in a way that the original simply cannot match. Die Hard with a Vengeance features my favorite actor in his best role, where he simply cannot stop, no matter the odds, the beatings or the resentment from those closest to him. John McClane is my favorite movie hero, and Die Hard with a Vengeance is McClane at his absolute best (and worst).