Lethal Weapon 3: Die Profis sind zurück

This is undeniably the funniest of the first three films in the series. (After this one, I had no desire to see the fourth.) But laughs alone are not enough to carry an action movie. So let's throw in a lot of cool stunts. Okay, now we've got enough to entertain viewers for two hours, so why add anything else? I mean, we don't actually *need* to have a strong villain or emotional depth for the characters do we?

Well, we don't if we're just looking for a couple of hours of escapism. In that role, this movie delivers. Mel Gibson made me laugh in this movie, despite the utter silliness of the humor. The stunts kept me on the edge of my seat. What can I say? For two hours I had a good time.

But through it all, I still felt empty somehow. And as I left the theater, I actually looked back and asked myself, "Did I just see a movie?"

Riggs and Murtaugh arrest a man on gun charges just for him to be killed in the interrogation room by ex-cop Jack Travis. Travis is running illegal guns. Riggs and Murtaugh team up with IA officer Cole to track down and stop Travis while Murtaugh also faces trouble at home as the illegal guns impact on his family.

This third in the series is a lot more polished and refined than the first two - there's a lot of money riding on this now! The story is quite good but it's not rocket science. It's really all an excuse to have a series of set pieces - from a building being destroyed to a desert showdown. The romance between Riggs and Cole take away from Riggs' madman style character and makes the film a lot softer. It also makes the action scenes a lot less believable as he seems to revert to action hero on cue. However it does allow some humour. The involvement of Pesci is funny but at times it's a little stretched.

Gibson and Murtaugh are good, mainly because they're just having fun now in well worn characters - like old shoes! Pesci is not quite as annoying as he was in LW2 but is still a bit of a spare wheel. Russo is good as the love interest and handles herself well.

Overall it's good fun but it lacks the dark, rough tone that made LW such a hit in the first place.

'Lethal Weapon 3' has the best opening sequence of all 'Lethal Weapon'-movies, although the opening of the fourth installment comes close. Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) try to disable a bomb and what happens in the end can probably only happen in a movie like this. It is hilarious and spectacular anyway.

The movie starts eight days before Murtaugh's retirement. He and Riggs must find an ex-cop named Jack Travis (Stuart Wilson). He steals weapons and ammunition from the police. At first they thought it was an inside job so Lorna Cole (Rene Russo) from Internal Affairs is put on the case. She is the perfect match for Riggs, beautiful but tough. We also meet Leo Getz (Joe Pesci) again. He kind of helps them with this case and again he is very good for the comedy.

This is a fine installment although things get more and more familiar. Still, as long as it is spectacular and funny that doesn't really matter. The fun Gibson, Glover and director Richard Donner must have making this movie is clearly visible on the screen.

So this is the one where it all seems to get to be a lil much. Like wherever Murtagh and Riggs go there is trouble. It's still effective but a bit silly. This time around the baddie is quite generic, an ex cop selling confiscated weapons and police killing ammunition. Sure the guys are great but the real joy here is Renee Russo as Riggs new love interest. She's an IA officer whose bad ass and can hold her own. The interplay and chemistry between her and Riggs is great. But all the other stuff feels a lil silly at times. That being said it's still really fun and the last action setpiece in the housing development is quite fun and suspenseful. But the formula starts to feel a bit old. It's a low point for the franchise but it's still pretty damn good and that's all due to the charismatic cast.

Even though this is in my opinion the weakest out of the Lethal Weapon series, that of course doesn't mean that this movie isn't fun and entertaining to watch.

It suffers from the same minor flaws as the previous 2 Lethal Weapon movies. The story is incredibly simple, standard action material. It's totally uninteresting and also told in a totally uninteresting way. Also the villain is yet again heavily underused. But it's true that none of the Lethal Weapon movies have ever relied on its story. Instead the movie heavily relies on its two main character; Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh. And when you have two such characters like Riggs and Murtaugh, who have such an amazing chemistry together, you just don't need much else to make a good and entertaining movie.

Unfortunately the movie does nowhere live up to its fantastic and memorable beginning. Everything that happens after the opening sequence isn't really that interesting or memorable. The movie doesn't always have the right pace and the way the story is presented make it seem even less interesting than it is on paper.

The movie is filled with some great characters next besides to the two main leads. Joe Pesci returns as Leo Getz and Rene Russo joins the team as a woman who knows how to take care of herself. The villain is this time played by the always great Stuart Wilson. It however is unfortunate that all of these characters are given too little screen time, especially Joe Pesci and Stuart Wilson. All of the Lethal Weapon movies always had great villains, that were also at the same time always heavily underused. Same goes for Wilson in this particular case, who's talent is practically wasted.

But luckily the movie is still of course a perfectly entertaining one. This is absolutely thanks to Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, who still have the magic chemistry together, after already 2 Lethal Weapon movies. The two of them provide some great and hilarious moments together, that alone is reason enough why this movie is a good and enjoyable one to watch.

Maybe not as good- but certainly just as entertaining as all of the other Lethal Weapon movies.

7/10

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