I have - at least, at the time - and yes, that's an interesting take on it. Also that's from when John McClane was still a relatable everyman and not the appalling arsehole they turned him into for the later films, so maybe I should watch it again if I get a chance.
Like
The Batman,
With a Vengeance drags a bit at the end. I had completely forgotten about the whole portion of the movie aboard the ship. I recently listened to a podcast about the movie, and they noted that the first script for a third Die Hard was originally going to take place on a cruise ship. When
Under Siege came out, they scrapped it, but parts of the script ended up in
Speed 2: Cruise Control, and I couldn't help wondering that slightly-tedious 4th act was a remnant of that first script. If you want to listen to the podcast after your rewatch, it was
Blank Check with Griffin & David, and the
Die Hard With a Vengeance episode was on March 31st. They do runs of rewatches & podcasts for a particular director's oeuvre, and they're doing John McTiernan right now. I see they just posted
The 13th Warrior. Their episodes are too long, though. Their
With a Vengence ep is 2:19:00, which tried my patience a little bit. Their episodes on
The Last Action Hero is 3:45:00 and I'm like, "guys, wtf." I'm not listening to that one. Their episode on
Die Hard from Feb 25th was 3 hours, but I listened to most of that one 'cause Kevin Smith was on it, and he has a massive [girder] for
Die Hard. Nevertheless, when I'm GodKingEmperor, podcasters will receive a light electrical shock at the 2-hour mark, increasing in frequency and intensity as the show wears on. If the movie itself is very long or very complicated, petitions for an exception will of course be entertained. I'm not a tyrant.
I think I had my head in my hands for the entire 4th act of
The Batman, when I wasn't checking what time it was. I think the whole last 15-20 minutes of that movie should've been cut.
The 4-act structure is one of those things that storytellers should mostly stay away from, imo (flashbacks; voiceovers; multiple endings). It's just fraught, and the juice usually isn't worth the squeeze. I'm trying to think of a movie that had a 4th act that really elevated the story, and I can't, off the top of my head. Maybe I'll Google it later, to see if there's any good examples of good 4th acts. There can't be
none, or it wouldn't be a thing. A 4th act isn't necessarily the same as having multiple endings, but in the case of
The Batman, it was.