The search for the director of the next Die Hard sequel has been underway for a long time, with Bruce Willis being the one to give the nod of approval. The most recent line-up of potentials included directors ranging from the great (Joe Cornish who made Attack the Block) to the awful (Justin “Fast and Furious” Lin). And now Willis and 20th Century Fox have chosen someone in the middle: John Moore.

Irishman Moore has made solidly performing action-oriented movies for the last decade or so, starting with Behind Enemy Lines, and his last film being Max Payne, the adaptation of the video game. This week Deadline confirmed that the deal has been done. Apparently, Bruce Willis was impressed by Moore’s love of the franchise, and of his tendency to veer away from CGI when shooting action sequences.

So is Moore the best choice? It’s hard to tell. Moore’s films haven’t exactly been critical successes or particularly memorable. Not that Die Hard is exactly an arthouse drama. However, the first film was a cut above pretty much every action film made before (and since), and it feels that Moore may not be able to bring any innovation to the franchise. Indeed, Moore is regarded as a hack director, hired by Fox (who funded all of his films) to make sure the film is made on budget and on time. Then again, it’s not like Die Hard 4 was anything besides a terrible mess of ridiculous explosions that insulted the brilliance of the original. It’s just a shame that Willis and the producers are no longer aspiring to make anything more than another shallow collection of bangs and blasts.