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Lethal Weapon 4

Lethal Weapon 4

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Lethal Weapon 4 shines on DVD
Review: The fourth Lethal Weapon film, a cleverly made formulaic comedy/drama, shines on DVD.

Glover, Gibson and Co. are back with Jet Li (who steals the show as an amazing bad guy) and Chris Rock (who fits into the cast nicely). Great for the fans of Lethal Weapon films and a pretty entertaining ride for everyone else too!

The film itself is good, but the transfer to DVD is perfect, clear visuals and crisp sound while the huge amount of extra material makes this an essential buy for fans of the LW films or the serious DVD collector.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A bit racist but HK superhero Jet Li avenges..
Review: I thought the script (Riggs especially) was a bit unnecessarily racist and it was pathetic how they tried to make up for the racist jokes by putting in a be-kind-to-chinese sub-plot which just makes it worse. Also, you know you've got money-hungry producers involved when the whole Lethal Weapon franchises' main attraction was the teaming of a by-the-books family man (Murtaugh) and a near-suicidal killing machine (Riggs) and now, in LW4, the two leads are now almost identical in character. They are now both "too old for this.." Jet Li (one of the biggest babyfaces in HK cinema) was surprisingly good as a semi-villain (not competely evil, just avenging his brother's death) using his trademark staredown in a different way than usual. Yuen-Woo Ping -the martial arts coordinator- does one of his best work with Jet Li using him only a little bit until the big climax. Overall, besides Jet Li and his fight sequences and some comedic moments between Chris Rock and Joe Pesci, the film is a waste of time. Only for the LW devotees. (i'm sure there won't be many left after they view this film)

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A truly terrible movie!
Review: This is easily the worst of the Lethal Weapon series. By this point, the interplay between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover is annoying. Joe Pesci is irritating, not funny. The script and characters are politically correct, and not realistic. Finally, the language would make a sailor blush. The only redeeming feature is the bad guy.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: richard donner sure does know how to make sequels!
Review: the lethal weapon sequels prove that sequels DO work. sadly,this is probably the last film in the series. the plot has to do with an asian crime family.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The series continues. . .with continued good results!
Review: OK, it's easy to dump on the Lethal Weapon films; they've always been all swagger, few brains. But hasn't that always been the point? Drop the pretense of being in any way logical or (groan) "reality-based", and simply deliver a well-crafted, well-played rush. We applaud Jackie Chan's silly sense of fun as much as his physicality, and Lethal Weapon 4 has got both in spades.

This installment finds the extended 'family' of Riggs (Mel Gibson), Murtaugh (Danny Glover), Leo (Joe Pesci), and Lorna (Rene Russo), joined by fresh new faces Chris Rock and Hong Kong martial arts star Jet Li, as a particularly nasty bad guy. The plot involves the smuggling of Chinese counterfeiters into the U.S. by a crime triad, but all that is really just a coathanger for the collection of action sequences and gags that director Richard Donner has skillfully assembled.

Like its predecessors, LW4 is an odd hybrid of The French Connection and The Love Bug (imagine a 5 with Herbie as Riggs, Dean Jones as Murtaugh and Buddy Hackett as Leo, but I digress). The chemistry between Gibson and Glover continues, and in spite of the often trite dialogue that is written for them, they infuse their exchanges with an infectious energy and enthusiasm.

What negative criticism I would level at Lethal Weapon 4 regards the lack of darkness that so imbued the first two films. There was a feel of constricting menace in those films that made the comedic elements seem astounding in their mere existence, let alone effectiveness. LW3 took a major step away from that, and towards a goofier, glossier, more Love Bug-ier (if you will) sheen, with lesser results. 4 is an improvement on that film's formula, but someone should have remembered that Riggs' unhinged self-destructiveness was part of why the series was so compelling in the first place.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Awe-inspiring action sequences; preposterous writing.
Review: Jet Li and Chris Rock are the reasons to watch this one -- Li because it's about time Martin Riggs gets his behind whipped by a truly formidable villain (the weakest point of all the Lethal Weapon movies -- Gary Busey!?), and Rock because Joe Pesci was becoming much more of a multi-million-dollar liability in the series than an asset. Pesci's brand of humour can work sometimes, but the character was so thinly written from the get-go that they should have just dispensed with him.

The scripting is preposterous -- the flame-thrower-wielding maniac in the beginning had nothing to do with the rest of the movie; the dialoguing is like excuse after excuse for jokes, most of them bordering on the offensive; Riggs' character is rendered absolutely despicable. So it's up to Rene Russo and Danny Glover to put some humanity into the story and they succeed well. Li, also, finds that subtle place in his character that makes him a much more well rounded villain (eg. his love for his brother) than those amphibian, stereotypical South Africans in Lethal Weapon 2.

I must admit, I'm annoyed at the fact that Chinese characters are STILL inexorably tied to kung fu. Even after the John Woo revolution, the Chinese character in a mostly American cast is still pitted into the chop-socky category. That said, Richard Donner's approach to the martial-arts sequences is superlative; by avoiding the badly conceived, rhythmically inept slow-motions, posing, unnecessary montages and ultra-close shots of most Chinese martial-arts movies, Donner achieves a kineticism that was breathtaking when seen on a big screen. I saw this movie twice at the theater just for the action sequences and trust me, this is one definite case where video can't measure up. Li's extremely mobile actions are awesome.

So that means the car chases, burning houses and gunfights pale all the way in comparison. As much money was thrown into that car crashing through the building, ten seconds of Wah Sang Ku pounding both Riggs and Murtaugh into submission completely override the big spectacles. And when Riggs finally defeats Wah, it's great resolution for a good human conflict.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I love this video! Jet Li plays a great villain!
Review: This is the first movie in which Jet Li plays a villain. Martin Riggs is so racist against Chinese (saying "flied lice" and making fun of Wah Sing Ku's clothes, calling them pajamas). Therefore, I kind of feel happy when Wah Sing Ku, Jet Li's role character, beats up Riggs and Roger Murtaugh.

The ending is so very ironic, too. Riggs and Murtaugh are cheating when they fight him, using other objects to attack Wah Sing Ku, rather than just their own arms and legs.

Nevertheless, this movie is one of the best!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Prosaic And Unoriginal
Review: I wasn't expecting much before watching this and after finally seeing it, I understand why. This movie is quite terrible. Even before the first hour had transpired, I had given up on it. Sitting through this movie was a very large chore. You could tell that Lethal Weapon 4 sported a substantial budget, but that wasn't enough to save this film. Sequels are usually a bad idea most of the time and this movie is proof of that. The acting was quite silly also. The whole scene at the dentist's office should have been deleted. Most of what was supposed to be funny just wasn't. There were a few funny moments though, but on the majority not much was. This film's main problem was the fact that it stalled more than once. Also the characters played by Joe Pesci and Chris Rock were very annoying and abrasive. Another bad thing was the fact that the plot wasn't interesting. No doubt the action scenes were quite impressive, but they also couldn't salvage this movie. Mel Gibson should not have had anything to do with this sequel. Everyone was just going through the motions. This movie was flat from the beginning and never gained momentum. Lethal Weapon 4 is as bad as Scream 2 and Hudson Hawk. Not recommmended.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Last hurrah for Riggs and Murtough
Review: Ok. The plots of these movies are getting really stupid, but Richard Donner sure knows how to choreograph the action. Jet Li alone is reason enough to see this movie. Some good car chases, too. I DO wish they had used Chris Rock a little better. Donner never really cut him loose.

Worth a look, but don't expect too much.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I was laughing at the movie not with it!
Review: Oooooh,this movie was silly! Now, Danny Glover and Mel Gibson made the best interracial screen pair in the last 15 years. Watching the first one, even on TV, is still entertaining. But this one: it is way over the top and too unbelievable! Really, the only thing worth seeing about this movie is the interplay between Glover and Rock. Glover and Gibson don't seem to have that magic. Maybe because Glover seems to follow Gibson's every command-- remember, from the first movie, Gibson is a certified nut! I hope this is the last! What this one will make you do is run to the video store to get the original!


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