Catching Up with Rocky, 007, and John McLane

Seen a few movies lately featuring characters in long-running movie series:

Live Free or Die Hard
Also known as Die Hard 4. I liked this movie, it was a lot of fun, exactly what a summer movie is supposed to be. Bruce Willis is very good at this character and it didn't disappoint. To appeal to a younger audience, they added a young sidekick, who actually turned out to be very good. A computer geek, but not whiny or too smart aleck. He actually added a lot to the movie. Lots of chases, lots of explosions, lots of times when maybe things were not terribly realistic. But, so what, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Rocky Balboa
Also known as Rocky 6. The last Rocky was not very good at all, and that's one reason Stallone gave for making this one. This really evoked the memory of the first one in style and tone. This is very much for fans of the series, Stallone isn't trying to win new converts, but focusing on those that, especially, liked the first one in the series. You have to really think back to that first movie to know who Little Marie and Spider Rico are, who have major (Little Marie) and minor (Spider) roles in this one.

Yes, there's a fight at the end, and yes, there's a training montage, but what would a Rocky movie be without those. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this one. Stallone closes the series on a very high note. For die hard fans, watch the closing credits and see if you don't say to yourself, "Yeah, I'd like to do that, too." Next up for Stallone is "John Rambo," due in 2008. In this one, he goes to Burma to rescue some Christian aid workers. That's probably a better career move than in Rambo III, when he went to Afghanistan to fight with (not against) the Taliban.

Casino Royale
Also known as the 27th James Bond movie (or something like that). In this one, the series is completely rebooted. You are basically supposed to wipe out all memories of the Bond movies that came before (kinda like what they did with "Batman Begins"). This tells the origin of Bond, and to be quite honest, I wasn't too intrigued. Daniel Craig did okay as Bond, but the movie itself I found lacking. There was a bizarre chase scene near the beginning where the bad guy is jumping onto buildings and off things and through things, using Matrix and Jackie Chan moves. really odd. Also, not sure why they kept Judi Dench as "M," since she's a direct link to the most recent Pierce Brosnan Bonds.

I understand what they were trying to do, and sometimes the movie was interesting as you found out the origins of different Bond things (his favorite drink, set of wheels, etc.). But overall, I just didn't care for it all that much.