Lethal Weapon 3

Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)

Runtime: I saw the 121 minute Director's Cut

Directed by: Richard Donner

Starring: Who you'd expect in these movies, plus the likes of Rene Russo and Stuart Wilson

From: Warner Bros. 

It was not the plan to be away from a few days. But, Tuesday night I saw Up in Smoke again, a movie I reviewed for 4/20 back in 2011. I unexpectly saw this Wednesday evening and last night I did not feel like watching anything. But, later tonight I'll see something and review it for tomorrow. Now, onto this, which I hadn't seen in a long time. It's definitely not the first two (classic) entries in the franchise. I explain why in my Letterboxd review below:

When I woke up on Wednesday I had in mind some movies to watch on TV; this was not one of them. Plans changed for several reasons I won't get into and I can always watch online what I hoped to check out playing on a television station. Earlier in the year I reviewed the first two Lethal Weapon movies and they were both great, as I had remembered them. This one, I knew it wasn't as good and yet I hadn't seen it in years either. Turns out, what I had remembered was correct.

After an opening that is kind of dopey if you think about it (although at least a building is actually blown up, which is pretty cool) Riggs and Murtaugh are briefly demoted, until they happened to stumble across another big case, and they happen to stumble upon a returning Leo Getz (once again, a little of him goes a long way) and they happen to... you get the point. The bad guy ends up being a dirty ex-cop who is greedy. This was explained outright in one scene and yet through no fault of the actor, the character comes off as cliché and bland. He's no Mr. Joshua, that is for sure. Gangbangers are a secondary villain and an interesting moment was when Murtaugh ends up killing a teenaged boy who was friends with his son, and his grief over that happening. Also, Murtaugh is about to retire in a few days, and amazing that is NOT a sign of his impending death.

I can only rate this as “fine” instead of “great” for a few reasons. Aside from the villain, there are various story things to complain about, and not all of the comedy works. Things are not as rock solid as in the first two movies; there are notable moments throughout but overall it's not as strong. Still, I will mention some of those notable things. Rene Russo was cool as an ass-kicking female who starts off not liking the leads but of course she and Riggs fall in love. There are still some amusing moments. And, there are some quality action scenes to see, from shootouts to car chases. It's just that it pales in comparison.

Although, you hear the phrase "son of a bitch" at least 50 times, so that's something I suppose.