Time has been kinder to Alan Rickman, even though the man has more wrinkles.

Speaking of Rickman, he’s fantastically awful in this. I hope it was deliberate. It feels deliberate.

The instant that I saw that this film was scored by Michael Kamen, I started trying to pull Brazil parallels. The fact that it’s set at Christmas does not help.

A lot of very fun lines. But then you knew that.

One thing that surprised me: this film is surprisingly low in terms of the death toll, and there are none that you feel particularly bad about. Yes, all of the bad guys die, but the collateral is largely reduced to one hostage (possibly) and a few FBI agents you didn’t exactly care about. It’s not exactly Michael Bay-level atrocity. (And that’s good.)

John McClane is actually likeable. Rare, for an action hero, considering that a lot of them come bundled with dumb misogyny or no personality. He has little (followed by none) of the former, and lots of the latter. In fact, considering that one of the most tender moments of the film involves him apologising for not supporting his wife’s career, this might actually have been the first action film to advance gender politics. Tenuously.

All in all, very good, very silly, and very Christmassy. I can see why you all like it.