"LAWFUL EVENTS"

The wait is finally over... SUPERMAN RETURNS TOMORROW!!!!



Lethal Weapon 4
Starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Chris Rock, Rene Russo
Written by Jonathan Lemkin and Directed by Richard Donner


Explosive. Charged. If I had to describe Lethal Weapon 4 in two words, those would be the two words. If I had to add a third word, it would be: fire. The title credit is on fire (it literally is on fire) and the opening scene involves a maniac with a gun in one hand and a flamethrower in the other. From that point on the movie only gets more heated and intense.

The ever-so-lovable team of Murtaugh (Glover) and Riggs (Gibson) are back and better than ever. The two are clearly more mature looking (a nice way of saying old) and the filmmakers don’t try and hide it -- they use it. With a storyline that has Riggs on the verge of becoming a father with his girlfriend Lorna (Russo) and Murtaugh on the verge of becoming the grandfather of a child his daughter secretly conceived with a fellow detective, Lee Butters (Chris Rock), who Murtaugh thinks is gay -- you can just see the laughs from a mile away. It also helps that Gibson and Glover have so much chemistry together and are one of the original buddy-cop duos as created by the buddy-cop master himself, Shane Black. Joe Pesci also returns as Leo, the potty-mouthed, short-tempered buddy of the buddies. Lethal Weapon 4 is probably the last Lethal Weapon, so it is natural that the filmmakers would pull out all the stops to make it memorable. With Richard Donner at the helm and the introduction of Jet Li to Hollywood, this Lethal Weapon has more than the regular Joel Silver produced action movie quota of at least one big action sequence every fifteen minutes. Lethal Weapon 4 averages at least one every like five minutes -- each one involving lots of explosions, fire, and rapid fire dialogue as only Gibson and Glover can deliver.

Lethal Weapon 4 is utterly satisfying action and comedy rolled up into a nice fireball. It knows its purpose and it knows how to do it well. With the exception of some bad Chinese stereotypes, there is very little wrong with this movie. It lets Jet Li kick some major tail and really showcases his talent. It lets Gibson and Glover exchange their banter and wit -- and most importantly the movie shows us a lot of things going up in a ball of flames and shattering. Lethal Weapon 4 locks onto its target and hits it right on the mark.


THE RUNDOWN:

The Good: Lots of laughs and lots and lots of action!

The Bad: Chinese stereotypes are a little annoying, but typical for an action movie.

The Law: Lethal Weapon 4 is right on target!