Movie Review: Lethal Weapon 4

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Fun action scenes and comedy

Cons: Very disjointed; some scenes run too long

The Bottom Line:

Action scenes abound

Plot between them disjointed

Fun, serious flaws

“Do You Think the Chicken Thing Helped?”  “No, I Just Wanted to See if You Would Do It.”

I know the general consensus is that the Lethal Weapon movies get progressively worse as they go along.  That’s certainly the case with most sequels.  However, I remembered liking Lethal Weapon 4 back when it came out all those years ago, so I was curious to see what I would think of it when I got a chance to rewatch it.

After a brief prologue, we meet up with LAPD detectives Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) as big life changes are about to take place.  Martin’s girlfriend Lorna Cole (Rene Russo) is about to give birth to their first child while Roger is about to become a first-time grandfather.

However, a day of simple fishing turns deadly when Roger’s ship is almost run over by a much bigger boat.  It might have been a simple accident, but after a shootout, the partners discover that the ship was being used to smuggle immigrants into the country, using them as virtual slaves once they are here to pay for their passage.  However, the smugglers aren’t happy about their operation being discovered, and especially about Roger hiding some of the immigrants in his home.  Will Riggs and Murtaugh find the smugglers before they retaliate?

I can certainly see the complaints about this film.  The screenplay wasn’t finished until they were well into production, which explains why some plot twists seem to come from nowhere.  Some scenes feel like the actors were improvising; this is especially true of scenes where they are supposed to be teasing each other.  And those scenes go on far too long.  They are important to the plot, but still they go on way too long.

On the other hand, I like the lighter ton of the movie.  Yes, there is still plenty of danger and plenty of dark moments, but there are some fun laughs throughout the film.

And the action!  This must have had a huge budget since there are plenty of action sequences, including a huge one early in the second half.  It’s completely unrealistic, but it is so much fun I don’t really care.

The main actors are all back, and they are in great form.  That include Joe Pesci, whose Leo Getz is now a PI.  Chris Rock joins the crew as another LAPD officer who is driving Murtaugh crazy.

To a certain extent, a good action movie is a chance to turn off the critical part of your brain and just enjoy.  Unfortunately, Lethal Weapon 4 doesn’t live up to even that low standard.  It has some very fun scenes and moments, but overall it has serious weaknesses.