Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990)

Christmas again, but now McClane lives in L.A. and is in Washington D.C. for the holidays with his in-laws. He's switched from being a detective in the NYPD to being a lieutenant in the LAPD, apparently conceding that his wife's career has at least some significance. I'm just glad that they got all of the actors back to play their respective roles, even if it's a bit far fetched that McClane would call L.A. to ask Al for help or that the asshole reporter would be on the same plane with Holly.
As I recall, when this movie came out in theatres, it was a big deal because of the amount of money spent on the special effects - it cots a lot of money to blow up a couple of 747s. I didn't see it in the theatre though, I hope it was because I was too busy studying, getting ready to go off to college. I did see it in the next couple of years though, on VHS. I got the action aspect, but I missed a lot of the humor. This movie is very self-referential, and at times almost self-aware by which I mean the characters seem to be talking directly to the audience. I mean of course McClane's rhetorical questions to the aether about why this kind of stuff keeps happening to him, a remark about 'what are the odds', etc. Plus, you can't overlook the title - "Die Harder".
This movie isn't as good as the first one. But, I give it credit for sticking with the characters and developing them, giving them a story that has some of the same aspects, but that isn't a carbon copy of the first film. I do find it interesting that in both films, criminal elements masquerade as terrorist organizations because they know how the government will react to terrorists. I can't help but wonder if they would have gone with the same premise after 9/11. I don't think so - I think they likely would have been terrorists.
This movie did see a departure from the character of McClane in one respect - one that will only grow in the third and fourth movies - McClane is no longer the every man cop who wins because he cares the most, he is now the Action Hero cop - along with references made throughout the film as to as much. The only thing that keeps McClane from being a true bad-ass, something which he will achieve in the next film, is that Holly is still in the picture, both humanizing John and showing quite a bit of her Action Hero-ness. I mean come on, not just anybody would taser a dude just to get him off the phone.

Die Hard 2 at IMDB