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If anything, Willis’s own genre follow-ups are usually
either as undercooked as steak at a health farm or as barefaced
a rip-off as 'Ice, Ice, Baby' was to 'Under Pressure'. They
might play to the same beat, but there’s something missing
in the string section.
Thankfully, Willis leaves no string unpulled in his return
to the action genre – after slumming it in a couple of
clunker comedies – and it’s with Hostage
that he may just reclaim his crown as the king of action cinema.
Former hostage negotiator Jeff Talley (Willis) is now working
the beat as a small town chief of police – less chance
he’s going to feel responsible for hostages getting popped
here, you see. Surprise, surprise though - Talley finds himself
called back into action when three hoodlums take a wealthy
father (Pollak) and his two children hostage in his area.
That’s not all though – seems a group of career
criminals were planning to get something off the kidnapped
Dad tonight, and by god, if they aren’t going to still
get it. Somehow Talley has to figure out how to save the trio
from the crooked kids inside, and from the malicious thugs
outside. And did we mention Talley’s family has also
been snagged?
If the plot isn’t a tip-off enough, then some of it’s
finer elements will definitely have you recollecting the adventures
of a shirtless John McClane in the Nakatomi Plaza: guy, or
kid in this place, inside, talking to the copper outside throughout
the hostage ordeal, same kid crawling through air ducts and
sneaking around the kidnappers, a couple of stomach-churning
deaths, and the Feds turning up on the scene and screwing
things up.
Yes, Bruce has definitely injected some of the more successful
elements of his uber-successful original Die Hard into
proceedings here. Who can blame him though? The Last Boy
Scout, Striking Distance and Tears of the Sun
could’ve done with a tad more of his signature role,
and Willis knows it.
Willis isn’t relying on a nice xerox to carry proceedings
alone though: he’s adding a couple of fresh ingredients
to an otherwise familiar cocktail. There are some new twists,
double the villains, a multi-layered set of new characters
and an intriguing new backdrop. In short, it’s half a
greatest hits album with a couple of bonus new tracks.
Hostage isn’t without fault though. There’s
amplified button pushing in certain scenes which only take
away from the experience - we’re supposed to cry with
our lead when he breaks down, and it’s hammy to think
we’re going to be robbed of our breathe as our hero walks
slow-motion from a beam of light – ready to save the
day. Sounds like the studio meddled in the editing room...
In addition, there’s about as much chemistry between
Willis and on-screen wife Serena Scott Thomas here as there
would be in a kindergarten’s curriculum. Still, this
is solid stuff. And with this bloody tense, electrifying action-packed
thrill ride – Bruno Willis has won our vote back.
Just one thing – apparently they’ve been trying
to come up with a solid storyline for the fourth Die Hard
for years. This would’ve been a snug fit, no?
DVD Extras
In addition to a great looking transfer – and hopefully
you’ve got a good of speakers that does the terrific
audio mix justice too – there’s an enlightening
audio commentary by Florent Siri (Willis did a commentary
on the “Moonlighting” DVD, yet he couldn’t
find the time to chat up this one?) that covers everything
from adapting the book-of-the-same-name to the screen, as
well as Bruno, some deleted and extended scenes, and a promo-style
making-of.
Not a fantastic bag of extras, but the commentary makes up
for the injustices of the thin-arse back-up supplements.
Conclusion: Movie 85% Extras: 65%
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