Carry-on (2024)

It's set in an airport at Christmas time and features a pre-male pattern baldness blue-uniformed everyman (Taron Egerton) who in the course of his usual work as an airport luggage checker suddenly finds himself the sole hope in a battle against terrorists, so Die Hard comparisons have to be made and this one, in comparison, is a stinker, really - perfectly watchable but absurd, with the convoluted terrorist plot undone from the outset and everything else that follows just a ludicrous, well, carry-on.

★★☆☆☆

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Die Hard 4.0: Live Free or Die Hard (2007)

Nothing will ever compare to Die Hard 1.0, but this third attempt at recapturing the original's success is the best so far, even with its two or three more-than-unlikely, how-could-he-have-known-to-do-that? action sequences during a "fire sale" terrorist attack upon America that mobilises John McClane and sees him charged with protecting a perfectly cast Justin Long as the code-writer in over his head but still able to look down upon his Luddite savior.

★★★★☆

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Die Hard (1988)

Ever since Hans Gruber and his 'terrorists' faced off with John McClane in the Nakatomi Plaza, action movies have tried to emulate the 80s action classic Die Hard to the extent a formula developed: add to one hostage situation an everyman hero, a droll baddie who spends a scene pretending to be a hostage, then mix in a smarmy, self-interested double-crossing hostage who gets his comeuppance; among the hostages, have an insider love-interest, while outside there is an out-of-their-depth assistant; and make the authorities, the police and government agencies, powerless; but despite the efforts of many copycats, no action flick has bettered Die Hard's formula - not even its four sequels.

★★★★★

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