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Overall Rating
 Awesome: 13.76%
Worth A Look: 17.43%
Average: 32.11%
Pretty Bad: 28.44%
Total Crap: 8.26%
5 reviews, 79 user ratings
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| Lethal Weapon 4 |
by Filmink Magazine (owes us money)
"Polished and neatly gift-wrapped for the multiplex generation."

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Lethal Weapon 4 - The Recipe: Mix plenty of ludicrous stunts, frantic chases and massive explosions,
pepper with a dash of that Gibson/Glover chemistry, season lightly with some Joe Pesci schtick, blend in
some essence of Russo, add the all-important nasty foreign spice (Jet Li) and finally place gleaming Chris
Rock cherry on top. Bake for approximately three months…et voila, you have a dish that on three previous
occasions has left tills ringing across the globe and audiences screaming for more.It is easy to be cynical. After all, Mel was adamant after both the second and third that Riggs had hung up his mullet, (he actually died at the end of Lethal 2, but test-audiences were outraged and it was re-shot) and on two occasions has been enticed back to the screen with lorry-loads of cash and the prospect of a cushy three months work (OK, that’s a little unfair, but somehow the notion that he chose Lethal 4 because its eclectic, highbrow social-commentary doesn't quite wash).
The plot, as usual, is not really all that important, merely serving as a catalyst for what audiences essentially expect - a Lethal Weapon Movieä. A cartel of evil Chinese, led by malevolent Triad prince Wah Sing Ku (Li), hatch a fiendish plot involving slave-trading and counterfeiting, and Riggs and Murtaugh find themselves caught up in the mess. Butters (Rock) is the mouthy, over-enthusiastic rookie who joins them for the ride, and Leo (Pesci ) and Lorna (Russo) occasionally wave from the background.
The twist here is that Butters and Murtaugh's daughter are expecting a child (unbeknownst to Murtaugh) and Lorna is also pregnant. Cue a veritable onslaught of 'father/grandfather/I'm too old for this shit' jokes.
Make no mistake, this film is a product - polished, exciting and neatly gift-wrapped for the multiplex generation. The stunts are expertly staged, the banter between the characters is as endearing as ever and the 'new' elements, Rock and Li, are amusing and chillingly evil respectively.
But there is an underlying feeling of laziness that pervades the film - Donner is on autopilot, Gibson and Glover are plainly sleepwalking and Pesci and Russo are little more than window-dressing.If Number 5 arrives (and it will) we can only hope to see a return to the grittiness of the original - otherwise we can expect little more than a homely celluloid soap-opera, offering nothing but the cosy, nostalgic familiarity of a Roy Rogers matinee. ---Phillip McDarby
del.icio.us
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=30&reviewer=14 originally posted: 10/17/98 16:06:26
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USA 10-Jul-1998 (R) DVD: 03-Feb-2004
UK N/A
Australia 10-Sep-1998 (M)
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