Many films fall from grace in regards to sequels. Lethal Weapon started very good, got great with #2 and then fell below the first one with the third installment, cleverly titled: Lethal Weapon 3.
Not that Lethal Weapon 3's all that bad. It's got its comedy, fantastic, though sporadic, action sequences – always nice to see real action in movies over the CGI world of today, and it's got the chemistry still in place between the two leads: Riggs (Gibson) and Murtaugh (Glover.) Unfortunately, what it suffers most from: probably one of the most aimless scripts of all time. This film was all over the place, as if the actors were told, via speakerphone because Director Donner had to be on some holiday spending his check he probably received immediately following #2, just do what you want, say what you think and cough it up. That last part nailed my point when one character, the infamous psychologist from the series played by Mary Ellen Trainor either has a cold, or her explanation of her coughing was cut from the final film.
Further proving my critique, the movie is about armored piercing bullets, or cop killers, gangs, retirement, filming a movie, a land project, a new romance, an unwanted romance, an ex-cop, sublingual messages again – SEE: the Murtaugh's new dog, selling homes, the internal affairs department, or police police and the word word. And it jumps from one of these to the next without ease, warning or reason. Sure, they get to the point, but mostly it was about the cast reuniting for some more fun, of their own.
You'll have fun, too, but at the cost of trying to sort things out. It's best to leave your brain at the door, just sit back and watch the few action scenes, like the enormously irrelevant but exciting explosion that opens the film. The humor's there – Gibson definitely had it, Glover played a more subdued straight man and Pesci's played his role all over again from #2.
This viewing, however, reminded me a lot of the magic I felt when I first watched it, probably a dozen or more times when I was much younger. I forgot some of the lines I've used in real life, like "Kelly's pool hall. Kelly speaking." Yep, I've actually answered the phone with that. Or "It's the Police, Police." – I used to work in Quality Assurance, whereas I listened to phone calls of the customer service representatives of my firm and so I called my department the "Police, Police." Also, I've used "Why? Am I getting to you? Am I getting to you?" I guess the trend is, they love to repeat themselves. Word. Word.
You could do a lot worse and if you try and jump past the Murtaugh feeling sorry for himself + the funeral scene, both of which took up entirely too much of the picture, you might have some fun. But take heed: as humorous and action packed some scenes are, this is a huge step down from #2 but a nice companion. I just wished they knew when to throw in the towel and quit here
Not that Lethal Weapon 3's all that bad. It's got its comedy, fantastic, though sporadic, action sequences – always nice to see real action in movies over the CGI world of today, and it's got the chemistry still in place between the two leads: Riggs (Gibson) and Murtaugh (Glover.) Unfortunately, what it suffers most from: probably one of the most aimless scripts of all time. This film was all over the place, as if the actors were told, via speakerphone because Director Donner had to be on some holiday spending his check he probably received immediately following #2, just do what you want, say what you think and cough it up. That last part nailed my point when one character, the infamous psychologist from the series played by Mary Ellen Trainor either has a cold, or her explanation of her coughing was cut from the final film.
Further proving my critique, the movie is about armored piercing bullets, or cop killers, gangs, retirement, filming a movie, a land project, a new romance, an unwanted romance, an ex-cop, sublingual messages again – SEE: the Murtaugh's new dog, selling homes, the internal affairs department, or police police and the word word. And it jumps from one of these to the next without ease, warning or reason. Sure, they get to the point, but mostly it was about the cast reuniting for some more fun, of their own.
You'll have fun, too, but at the cost of trying to sort things out. It's best to leave your brain at the door, just sit back and watch the few action scenes, like the enormously irrelevant but exciting explosion that opens the film. The humor's there – Gibson definitely had it, Glover played a more subdued straight man and Pesci's played his role all over again from #2.
This viewing, however, reminded me a lot of the magic I felt when I first watched it, probably a dozen or more times when I was much younger. I forgot some of the lines I've used in real life, like "Kelly's pool hall. Kelly speaking." Yep, I've actually answered the phone with that. Or "It's the Police, Police." – I used to work in Quality Assurance, whereas I listened to phone calls of the customer service representatives of my firm and so I called my department the "Police, Police." Also, I've used "Why? Am I getting to you? Am I getting to you?" I guess the trend is, they love to repeat themselves. Word. Word.
You could do a lot worse and if you try and jump past the Murtaugh feeling sorry for himself + the funeral scene, both of which took up entirely too much of the picture, you might have some fun. But take heed: as humorous and action packed some scenes are, this is a huge step down from #2 but a nice companion. I just wished they knew when to throw in the towel and quit here