Lethal Weapon 3 ** (1992, Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Rene Russo, Joe Pesci, Stuart Wilson) – Classic Movie Review 2659

‘Nobody’s dead.’ ‘Hey, the night’s young.’  Yes, Mel Gibson, Danny Glover (as rogue cops Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh) and Joe Pesci (as Leo Getz) reunite for director Richard Donner’s fast-talking, action packed but somewhat struggling third buddy police action thriller about cops on the trail of violent villains, once again.

In story-writer Jeffrey Boam’s unimaginative plot, Glover’s Sergeant Murtaugh character has only six days left on the force before his retirement, but those pesky baddies just won’t let that happen. In the story, set three years after Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Riggs and Murtaugh pursue Jack Travis (Stuart Wilson), a former LAPD lieutenant turned ruthless arms dealer.

The well-staged action is loud and frantic and the accent is still heavily on the explosions and the buddy-buddy humour that made the first films so popular. But a mechanical weariness and reliance on formula has set in, and Jeffrey Boam and Robert Mark Kamen’s screenplay is riddled with duff and lazy dialogue. However, the film gets by on the stars’ charisma and the fast-paced action.

Rene Russo proves a useful addition to the cast, gives a good performance and makes some headway as Gibson’s martial arts girlfriend love interest Internal Affairs Sergeant Lorna Cole. Weirdly, the part was originally intended for John Goodman, so some hasty re-writing must have happened!

Lethal Weapon 3 survived some poor reviews to be a box office hit, grossing over $320million worldwide on a $35million budget, the highest grossing film in the series and the fifth highest film of 1992.

It runs 118 minutes, with the director’s cut at 121 minutes.

A fourth movie was inevitable though it took a long time. But Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Rene Russo and Joe Pesci all returned for Richard Donner‘s Lethal Weapon 4 in 1998.

Donner is an animal-rights and pro-choice activist, and placed many posters and stickers for these causes in the film.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2659

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