So we announced the other day that Die Hart the Movie was in the works where the Die Hart series has been stitched together to form a feature film and today we bring you that Die Hart the Movie review.
Kevin Hart tries to keep from being pigeonholed as a comedy wingman and attends an action hero school run by Ron Wilcox, where he must learn the ropes to become one of the industry’s most coveted action stars.
Kevin Hart plays a fictionalised version of himself as he’s fed up of being typecast as a comedy sidekick and wants to step up and become a leading action hero in his own right. After going off the rails on TV Kevin is picked up by a famous action film director who wants to send him to Action Star School where he will be taught by none other than Ron Wilcox (John Travolta) with hilarious consequences.
Die Hart the Movie certainly doesn’t feel like a film, I’ve now seen it twice and both times there are leaps and jumps that just can’t be seamlessly edited into a feature film movie, it’s very clearly episodic content that has been stitched together and the transition are really not that hard to spot.
Whilst it’s still a hilariously fun feature to watch it doesn’t really work and I’m not quite sure why it’s been put together to be a standalone feature film, it doesn’t really make sense unless they were going to reshoot certainly bits or reshoot scenes so that they can act as segways / contribute to the narrative without the obvious episode skipping and the constant cliffhangers that are dotted throughout the feature film where it would have ended any given episode.
It felt a little half-arsed in the editing department and made just to drain a bit of extra profit and content from whoever’s decision it was to turn the series into a movie but if there’s a positive to take from this, it’s that the film is now available on Amazon Prime so it’s more easily accessible to people around the world as opposed to Quibi, the platform the show originally debuted on.
Die Hart somewhat dies quietly as a feature film but if you haven’t seen the show there are more than enough laughs and action to keep you going with quite a clever storyline to keep you amused throughout.
Kevin Hart and John Travolta are joined by Nathalie Emmanuel (Game of Thrones, the Fast & Furious franchise), Josh Hartnett (Wrath of Man, Paradise Lost), and Jean Reno (Call My Agent!, 22 Bullets). The movie is directed by Eric Appel (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and written by Derek Kolstad (John Wick: Chapter 1, 2, and 3).
Die Hart is fast-paced, energetic and fun but as a feature film, it just wasn’t needed or wanted and that pains me to say being such a big fan of Kevin’s work. I’m not sure why it was thought necessary to throw all the episodes together into a feature film. It’s not like Kevin needs the money, not quite sure of the decision behind it but I’d love to find out.
Die Hart the Movie review by Sean Evans
Our Rating
Summary
A hilarious scene with strong performances, comedy and heart in equal measure but whilst it worked as a Quibi series when all stiched together with not much thought gone into its editing, it feels rather half-arsed and the execution feels poor compared to what it was before. It really should have been left alone.
