Lethal Weapon 4 Review
by Alex Fung (aw220 AT FreeNet DOT Carleton DOT CA)August 27th, 1998
LETHAL WEAPON 4 (Warner Bros. - 1998)
Starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Chris Rock, Jet Li
Screenplay by Channing Gibson
Produced by Joel Silver, Richard Donner
Directed by Richard Donner
Running time: 127 minutes
** (out of four stars)
Alternate Rating: C
Note: Some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers. Be forewarned.
-------------------------------------------------------------
The venerable LETHAL WEAPON franchise continues its frightful tailspin in this tired fourth installment, a formulaic entry whose sole apparent purpose is to reunite its familiar cast of characters and recycle their old shtick -- we've got Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Murtaugh (Danny Glover) squabbling like an old married couple (which, after eleven years of onscreen partnership, they more or less are), Leo Getz (Joe Pesci) throwing another hissy fit, Lorna (Rene Russo) kicking butt (while pregnant, yet), Murtaugh's family endangered *yet* again, action and pyrotechnics galore .. hey, it even has Riggs doing his signature weirdo arm-socket popping thing!
Terrific, but haven't we seen this all before? In the studio's mad rush to get the picture in the can -- LETHAL WEAPON 4 began filming in January and hit theatres by July, a breakneck pace for a
heavy-duty star-driven studio flick -- it's clear that the idea was to churn out cookie-cutter material by simply dusting off the increasingly-sanitized cops the audience has grown to love. Their escapades are all framed within some lazy excuse of a plot -- an uninspired piece of vapidity involving Chinese Triad members
smuggling immigrants for slave labour -- which nobody takes very seriously, least of all the film's wisecracking characters. The filmmakers' obvious smug inference is that reassembling the cast and running them through the usual series of hijinx *should* be
sufficiently entertaining. Familiarity breeds complacency, and apparently contempt.
Well, it almost comes together. The supporting cast accumulated from previous films are obligingly trotted out for requisite appearances, legitimately adding little to the mix other than a sense of assuring recognition. My hopes were pinned upon the traditional infusion of new blood for this entry coming in the form of outrageous comedian Chris Rock (and given the series' growing reliance on jokey
sensibilities, it was inevitable that a bonafide comic would
eventually be cast), joining the fray as brash rookie cop Lee Butters. Sadly, his formidable gifts are wasted here, stifled by the confines of his surprisingly straight character -- other than his eager-to-please relationship with Murtaugh, the film gives Butters has no personality of his own to speak of.
The franchise's indelible appeal, for better or worse (and it's the latter if you ask me -- consider its devolution from an edgy action thriller centered on a fearlessly suicidal cop to a resolutely mainstream product where everybody seems ready to break out into group hugs), is the good-natured sense of camaraderie in sickening full display here. From its action-packed opening to its photobook conclusion, LETHAL WEAPON 4 is a film *about* its characters -- this is, after all, a picture in which an explosive firefight with an armoured maniac actually serves as glossy window-dressing for scenes of character background and development -- and it's ultimately a showcase for the quintessential mismatched buddy team of Riggs and Murtaugh, trading quips as they bicker their way through the motions of cracking the case. By now, they've become as all-American as apple pie, and the polished, engaging chemistry of their actor counterparts remains intact, but by this stage of the game, they're going through the motions.
On the plus side, the film features a few inventively staged (albeit logically ludicrous) action sequences and some dynamic mano-a mano fight scenes courtesy of Hong Kong wunderkind Jet Li, but as the series creatively wheezes and sputters (an obvious tip-off: resorting to the use of a Cute Young Kid -- a typical death-knell), my
idealistic side hopes that the filmmakers have the good sense to gracefully mothball the franchise after this picture. My cynical, anything-for-a-buck side, on the other hand...
- Alex Fung
email: [email protected]
web : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/
--
Alex Fung ([email protected]) | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/ "...a first screenplay unaccompanied by a powerful agent or industry sponsor is generally a pathetic fetus of a film, nothing more." - Andrew Sarris
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
