Who needs Superman again this summer when we have John McClane on hand? The likable cop is again forced into being a superhero of sorts by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the past, he’s saved many people. This time he saves the whole United States, as we know it.

McClane is Bruce Willis’ signature role. Character and actor are inseparable. Even after a hiatus of over ten years since the last Die Hard installment, With a Vengeance, Willis slips back into the role as comfortably as a knife into butter.

In Live Free or Die Hard Willis faces down terrorists who threaten to stop the nation with a "fire sale": that is, by hacking into transportation computer systems to grind parts of the US to a near halt. Their final coup will be to hijack the power grids and send the country into a new Dark Age that will get most of you where you live -- by knocking out all cell phones. However, they haven’t counted on McClane, who, as usual, is right on the spot without having known it in advance.

McClane has been asked to transport Matt Farrell (Justin Long) to Washington for questioning about Farrell’s computer activities. The ostensibly peaceful assignment is blasted apart when a group of terrorists attacks Farrell’s apartment and tries to kill him. From then on, McClane and Farrell are uneasy partners on the run, and Live Free or Die Hard is nonstop action. It turns out that the main bad guy, Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant), is a disgruntled former government employee who wants retribution. And because he designed many of the computer systems, Gabriel knows how to use them against his former bosses. When he first runs into McClane, Gabriel classifies him as a "Timex watch in a digital age": McClane just keeps on ticking.

The stunt work is incredible. In a chase through a tunnel, cars fly through the air, giving McClane the idea to send one up to destroy the helicopter that drove them into the tunnel in the first place. Freeways crumble, vehicles and buildings explode, gunfire erupts at the drop of almost anything, and a jet plane attacks a truck on the freeway. It is effective and quite believable, because there is very little CGI work in this movie. Oh sure, there is some, but it’s seamlessly patched into some of the best stunt work ever filmed. The list of stunt players in the closing credits is incredibly long.

At 130 minutes, Live Free or Die Hard is a bit long, and sags when everyone stops to catch a breath and dialogue must carry the story forward -- director Len Wiseman seems at something of a loss when characters need to converse. But just in time, there’s some new stunt or perilous situation to grab one’s wandering attention back with a jolt. Wiseman does know how to pace action.

Bruce Willis is right in his element, the stunts are among the best ever committed to the screen, and the photography and sound are ideal for this sort of movie. It isn’t great drama, but boy, is this ever one fun popcorn movie -- don’t forget to buy a box, if you can still afford it at today’s ticket prices.

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