Bruce Willis’ character, John McClane, in the first few Die Hard movies was charming, ingenious, funny, and heroic. However, in this latest franchise installment, Willis focuses more on trying to hand the franchise off to Jai Courtney who plays John’s son John, although he goes by Jack until they reconcile their differences by shooting all the bad guys and blowing lots of stuff up – Your typical heroic father/son bonding experience.

If you go to the movie to see a lot of action, this film is just for you. However, if you go to see the famous John McClane stumble upon something fishy, explore it, uncover a sinister plot that requires him to get help from locals that he befriends, and some how single handedly takes down the uber bad guy, while saving America, it sadly doesn’t quiet play out like the other successful Die Hard films. But again, if you’re going for the action, the film won’t disappoint.

The original McClane seemed to be developed by Willis from his hit TV series character in Moonlighting, but with a cynical edge and element of brilliant gut reflexes when things hit the fan. The writer in this latest release some how lost track of the things that made McClane unique to watch, instead he created a character set in his ways and stodgy.

This is where you have to suspend disbelief. Picture a stodgy guy in his 50s jumping through windows and falling numerous stories, breaking through roofs, scaffolding, and glass ceilings, then landing hard on the floor, followed by getting up and realizing his young muscular son couldn’t hack the fall and has a piece of steel sticking out of his gut. And I didn’t even mention the ride through a plastic debris chute, while being shot apart by military helicopter machine guns.

The bottom line is that the film is a great action ride for anyone in the mood, while being a huge disappointment for McClane fans. It was almost as if the writer, in attempting to stay true to the franchise, picked a good 80s (When Die Hard first released) story and modernized it, but forgot the importance of character development.

Of course, it might not be the writer’s fault. It might be, although I doubt it, that Willis is just tired of the character and gives a detached or disinterested performance of the great McClane character because he’d prefer to play a more contemporary character like Frank Moses from Red – Especially since he owns that franchise and its sequel. Red 2: The Best Never Rest is due out August 2, 2013 staring a great cast including Bruce Willis, Anthony Hopkins and Catherine-Zeta Jones to name a few.

What do you get when you take three Oscar^® winning powerhouse actors like Al Pacino, Christopher Watken and Alan Arkin and put them together with the wrong director? Utter failure. Oh, I’m sure some critic will be nice and give Stand Up Guys something higher than two stars out of respect for the cast, but he’d be putting his readers in jeopardy of wasting their time – Not even worth watching on TV.

Director Fisher Stevens, known for his comedic acting, has several documentaries and short films under his belt as a director. Unfortunately, he was not able to ignite his powerful cast. Instead he created the worst film I’ve seen in some time. Stevens is a great actor in his own right, but might want to leave directing to others. Although, I will give him credit for bringing Allison Timlin on board to play Watkins’ granddaughter.

Broken City was another star-studded waste of time. It broke my heart to watch Russell Crowe and Mark Wahlberg play characters in a story that couldn’t get off the ground. I partially blame director Allen Hughes for this broken film, but mostly because I know his talent from the movie The Book of Eli. This thriller lacked the intensity and bored the audience to the point of discussing Crowe’s hairstyle over the weak twists in the story as they exited the theater.

The Book of Eli was officially directed by the Hughes Brothers (Allen and Albert), so it might be possible they make a better team than individual directors. Outside of his television work, I believe Broken City was Allen’s first solo directing gig.

Stand Up Guys and Broken City are two films that are worth missing in the theater and on TV. But for most, the names will still draw them into wasting hours of time in hopes of enjoying the talent, regardless of the story or poor direction.

The film opens with teen Seth McArdle (Samuel Davis) struggling to make ends meet for him and his two little sisters, while his father is out of town on business. Seth feels he has nowhere to turn for help, as God never answered his prayer for his dying mother. Since he feels like the solution is solely up to him, Seth works 2-3 jobs in an attempt to keep the family home.

It’s hard to feel for Seth in the beginning of the movie, since the story never reveals what he wants in life. While he struggles, one can only assume that he is doing what he desires, which gives the story nowhere to go until more bad news hits.

Abel (Kevin Sorbo), gives meaning to Seth’s life and helps the film to finally take off in the second act. Kevin’s performance drove the film, even though it seemed like he had less dialog than any other character. His charisma was held in check within an introspective character who was very careful about opening up to anyone until Seth crossed his path.

The two leads nearly turned the story into a buddy film, as they delivered the better part of their performances. Unfortunately, first time feature director Gordie Haakstad wasn’t able to help the actors maintain that level of energy. Nor was he able to find the right pacing for the story, which could have made it far more entertaining. However, Haakstad did succeed in creating one of the better faith-based films released to date in Abel’s Field.