The Lethal Weapon Anthology: A Review of "Lethal Weapon 4"

...and just like that, it all comes down to this. I've been building up to this one for quite some time. Mostly because I consider not only one of the greatest action movies ever made, not only the best buddy-cop movie ever made, and even on par with one of the best comedies out there... alright, too many compliments. I spun out of control on that one, but it deserves them! Lethal Weapon 4 came after a six-year wait. The longest out of the entire franchise. That is... unless Lethal Weapon 5 gets made, then that wait will be like twenty-plus years. Anywho, Mel Gibson no longer had his signature mullet and Danny Glover was starting to appear in less-and-less movies. This was even Joe Pesci's last major starring role until The Irishman drops on Netflix in November. So, this was sort of a 'final ride', if you will, but boy you can tell everybody had fun making this movie. Let's dig in and find out just why this one is so cool and why I think it's the best one.

Jet Li looking two guns in the barrel and not caring.

Lorna Cole (Rene Russo) is pregnant with LAPD Sergeant Martin Riggs' (Mel Gibson) baby; they are not married, but both are thinking about it. Meanwhile, LAPD Sergeant Roger Murtaugh's (Danny Glover) daughter Rianne (Tracie Wolfe), is also pregnant. After the two supercops thwart another terrorist in the beginning of the film, resulting in a gas station explosion, the department's insurance carrier refuses to continue providing coverage due to Riggs and Murtaugh's actions as sergeants, so the Police Chief has Captain Murphy (Steve Kahan) promote them to captains, effectively retiring them both from street work.

The officers along with their close friend Leo Getz (Joe Pesci) come upon a Chinese immigrant smuggling ring after running an ocean-going vessel aground, though the captain of the boat escapes. In the subsequent investigation, Murtaugh finds Hong (Eddy Ko) and his family hiding from US Immigration officers to avoid deportation. An oddly poignant plot device, considering today's current events (Hi Mr. Trump). Murtaugh offers them shelter in his home, and their families, along with Riggs and Cole, quickly bond. Hong reveals he is looking for his uncle, a skilled engraver, who had paid for their passage to the United States. Riggs discovers through Lorna that Murtaugh's yet-to-be-born grandchild from Rianne is by Detective Lee Butters (an up-and-coming, fucking hilarious Chris Rock), which Murtaugh cannot possibly tolerate as he did not want his daughter to marry a police officer, and that Murtaugh still does not know who the father is due to the family hiding it from him.

Continued investigation of the smuggling ring leads the officers to "Uncle" Benny Chan (Kim Chan), a crime boss operating from a Chinatown restaurant. There, they are introduced to high-ranking Triad negotiator Wah Sing Ku (a brand-new and badass Jet Li). Chan forces them out of his restaurant when the officers show no probable cause. Outside, Riggs spots the escaped captain and tries to give chase but fails to capture him. However, Ku later intercepts the captain and kills him as punishment for attracting the police's attention. Chan and Ku take steps to eliminate all those in on their plans. Meanwhile, Hong is able to contact his uncle, but this leads the Triads to Murtaugh's house. Ku and the Triad thugs kidnap the Hongs, tie up Murtaugh, his family, Riggs and Cole and set the house ablaze. The fight to capture the heroes is badass, involving an awesome moment where Ku, Riggs and Murtaugh are all held at gunpoint, but Ku's faster-than-hell punches and kicks incapacitate the officers. Ping, Hong's grandson, has evaded capture and helps to free the others in time. A little silly to have a toddler save Riggs and Murtaugh, but also touching oddly enough at the same time. I don't know, I like it. Though Riggs and Murtaugh chase down and kill some of the Triad members, Ku escapes. Ku brings Hong to his uncle at a warehouse, where he has been engraving plates for a counterfeiting operation for Ku and Chan in exchange for transit for his family. Ku kills Hong in front of his uncle to assure his continued work.

The officers confront Chan at his dentist's office (using Getz as a distraction) to interrogate him for more information but are unable to get any leads, and during which Riggs and Butters accidentally reveal (from inhaling the laughing gas they used to interrogate Chan) that Butters is the father of Rianne's child, hilariously angering Murtaugh. They discuss what they know with Detective Ng (Calvin Jung), who has worked on cases involving the Chinese government before, Ng recognizes that Ku must be trying to negotiate with a corrupt Chinese general for the release of the Four Fathers, high-ranking Triad members that include Ku's brother (Conan Lee). New information leads them to the abandoned warehouse where they find the bodies of Hong, his uncle, and Chan, the latter two killed by Ku after they served their usefulness. Knowing that Ku plans to use counterfeit money, the police intercept the exchange between Ku and the general, telling the general that the money is fake. The enraged general reacts by executing most of the Four Fathers before being shot and killed by the Triads, at which a firefight breaks out between the Triad, the general's private army and the police, and most of the Triad and army are killed. Ku attempts to escape with his brother, but his brother is shot and killed by Murtaugh (who was aiming at Ku). Riggs and Murtaugh pursue Ku to a pier where they engage him in a brutal fistfight, starting the fight in probably one of the best ways possible. Riggs asks Murtaugh how Ku can do all those kung-fu moves, and Murtaugh replies with "Alright, let's go ask him" and the fight starts. I fucking love this movie. The fight ends when Murtaugh impales Ku through the stomach with a rebar before being knocked out by Ku, after which the pier collapses and sends Riggs and Ku into the water. Riggs is able to find one of the Triad's Kalashnikov assault rifle and finish off Ku, while Murtaugh recovers in time to rescue Riggs from a piece of concrete that had pinned him underwater, narrowly helping Riggs escape drowning.

Later, Riggs visits his dead wife Victoria's grave and asks her for advice about his impending marriage with Lorna, about which he still has doubts; Getz arrives and offers a heartfelt childhood story (where in the process, he admits that Riggs and Murtaugh are like his family, another touching scene) that gives Riggs both a new light on the situation and a new perspective of Getz, himself. They soon discover Lorna is about to give birth and race to the hospital, where Riggs and Lorna are ceremonially married by a rabbi just before she enters labor. Their son and Rianne's daughter are born, and Murtaugh accepts Butters as his son-in-law (due to the latter having taken a bullet for him during the shootout). Murphy gives Riggs and Murtaugh their rank of Sergeant back since the city is insured again and indebted to their service, and Hong's family is granted asylum. The movie ends when the Murtaughs and Riggs, along with Leo, pose for a picture by the doctor, proclaiming them to be one big family... and "Why Can't We Be Friends" jams over the end credits.

Lethal Weapon 4 is so much fun. It's an action film, it's a comedy film, it's one of the best if not the best damn buddy-cop movie, and the amount of lovable characters in the movie is too high to count. Even the bad guys are memorable and fun. Jet Li, known usually for playing rough and tough good guys, plays one hell of a deranged, threatening bad guy here. Fun fact: Director Richard Donner, who had directed all of the Lethal Weapon movies, had to reshoot many scenes with Jet Li moving slower, as Li was punching and kicking so fast, his movements were not registering on the film. Crazy. Leo Getz is just as funny as ever, even funnier even. So many quotable lines come from this movie from all sources. Riggs, Murtaugh, Butters and Leo are the main culprits of the humor, but you can also attribute Chan and Ku with the badass lines as well. Lethal Weapon 4, to me, is unequivocally the best one. They're all four solid, A+ movies but this one takes the trophy for me. It's just so much fun to watch. While Lethal Weapon had some comedy, it was mostly a redemption, feel good story thrown into a blender with some action movie tropes. Lethal Weapon 2 and 3 got funnier and more comedic as the plots came together, and it eventually grew and molded into the perfection that is Lethal Weapon 4. Watch them all. You won't regret it.

One last thing. Should there be Lethal Weapon 5? There's been rumors circulating ever since Mel Gibson stopped having psychopathic breakdowns with his wives every weekend, but with Donner in his 80s, Glover and Pesci in their 70s and Gibson in his 60s, it remains slimmer and slimmer with each passing year that Lethal Weapon 5 will see the light of day. I'd love to see them take one last run around LA, but the story and comedy would have to be perfect, and everybody would have to come back. You have to raise the bar from 4 and to do that at everybody's age in Lethal Weapon 5 will be trying... but if they can pull it off. Oh man, go for it. Why not?

I almost forgot; for one final time, enjoy Leo's "They fuck you" rant for Lethal Weapon 4. In 2, it was "in the drive thru". In 3, it was "in the hospital". Now, Leo's about to lecture us about cell phones.