Rating: Country: USA Release Date: February 13, 2013 Distributor: 20th Century Fox Director: · John Moore Cast: · Bruce Willis · Jai Courtney Grade: C

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John McClane is back -- which means, where he goes, trouble is never very far away.

Bruce Willis reprises his role as McClane in “A Good Day To Die Hard,” the fifth installment in the franchise. The series may have been better off ending after the really entertaining fourth installment, “Live Free Or Die Hard.”

In this installment, McClane learns that his son, Jack (Jai Courtney), may be in serious legal trouble in Moscow. All signs point to Jack being a really bad person. But fear not: Jack is actually a skilled CIA agent trying to stop terrorists from getting their hands on some powerful uranium from Chernobyl.

As in all the “Die Hard” movies, the action sequences do not disappoint. If you do see the movie, see it in a theater that has Dolby Digital or the like. The action scenes come to life as you feel like you are right in the middle of it.

Willis does a good job, as usual, playing the older McClane. Courtney was also very solid playing Jack, a character who was never mentioned in the previous movies. It would not surprise me if Jack is passed the torch if there are future installments.

While the action scenes are incredible, the subplot of John being an out-of-touch dad really draw away from the storyline. It is a pretty big stretch that John had no idea what his son was doing. The awkwardness between the two would be understandable, but is really unnecessary in the film.

My biggest issue with the movie, however, is that there wasn’t a central antagonist. From Alan Rickman in the first movie, to Timothy Olyphant in the last one, the interactions of the bad guys with McClane provided an extra level of intrigue to the storyline.

It’s time for John McClane to retire. He has given audiences a lot of excitement and a lot of one-liners. It’s such a shame that this movie takes things a big step backwards.