# Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

### reviewed by
David Sunga

    LETHAL WEAPON 4 (1998)

    Rating: 3 stars (out of 4.0)
    ********************************
    Key to rating system:
    2.0 stars - Debatable
    2.5 stars - Some people may like it
    3.0 stars - I liked it
    3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie
    4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out
    *********************************
    A Movie Review by David Sunga

    Directed by: Richard Donner

Written by: Jonathan Lemkin, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Channing Gibson

Starring: Jet Li, Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Rene Russo, Joe Pesci, Chris Rock

Ingredients: Goofball cops, oriental gangster, illegal immigrant trade

Synopsis: What a web of tangled comic situations. In LETHAL WEAPON 4 police officer Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) tries to get his partner Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) to believe in the psychic power of positive thinking. He also convinces Murtaugh that the reason a zany young cop named Butters is so nice to Murtaugh is because Butters is secretly gay. To make matters worse for the two cop partners, their irritating friend Leo (Joe Pesci) has recently changed jobs from accountant to private detective, and Leo insists on following them around. When together, the talkative Leo and the gung ho Butters can easily spend an entire day grousing about trivia. Meanwhile Murtaugh is trying to figure out who his daughter's secret boyfriend is, and trying to keep secret an embarrassing new source of income. Murtaugh also must swim away from a big shark while on a fishing trip.

On the other side of town sinister crime boss and money counterfeiter Wah Sing Ku (5-time Chinese national wushu champ Jet Li) is running a vicious slavery ring. The operation involves smuggling hopeful people from China into America, in return for exorbitant sums of money that can only be paid off by "indentured servitude" (slavery).

Murtaugh and Riggs go after Wah Sing Ku's gang, resulting in high speed chases, explosions, laughs, and some superlative martial arts moves on the part of the incomparable Jet Li.

Opinion: Sure, the characters are written a little older and wiser, but they're also funnier. Riggs and Murtaugh entertain us, escaping certain death by explosion and shootout, wisecracking all the way. Murtaugh's family even gets to escape twice. I may be mistaken, but miraculously, his wife and daughter appear captured in the burning building even after they have already been rescued and set free after a standoff with the bad guys.

For those unfamiliar with the LETHAL WEAPON series, it consists of 4 movies not really about anything lethal, but about the exploits of police partners Riggs and Murtaugh. Roger Murtaugh is an aging, easygoing family man who loves his fishing boat, while his loyal younger partner Riggs is a somewhat un-hinged prankster with suicidal tendencies. The running gag is that old Roger secretly enjoys the madcap adventures brought on by his unpredictable friend. To recap: In LW1 (1987) Riggs and Murtaugh nail the cold-blooded killer Mr. Joshua. In LW2 (1989) they protect an irritating mob-accountant-turned-witness named Leo (Joe Pesci), while busting a South African crime ring. In LW3 policewoman Lorna Cole (Rene Russo) falls in love with Riggs and helps the partners put away a bad ex-cop.

Characters Riggs, Murtaugh, Leo, and Lorna are all reunited in LETHAL WEAPON 4, and a new comedian is added: Chris Rock as Officer Butters, a gung ho young guy. LETHAL WEAPON 4 differs from the other movies in the series in that the emphasis is more on comedy than on action, though it still contains its quota of car chases, gunplay, explosions, and hand-to-hand combat sequences. In my opinion, the fast-paced LETHAL WEAPON 4 is one of the two best movies in the LETHAL WEAPON series.

    Reviewed July 13, 1998

Copyright © 1998 by David Sunga This review and others like it can be found at THE CRITIC ZOO: http://www.criticzoo.com email: zookeeper@criticzoo.com

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