Arma letale 3

'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.

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.

I caught this movie on TV a few days ago, so I may as well voice my opinion. I've enjoyed all the "Lethal Weapon" flicks and I hope one day to buy a boxed set of DVDs containing all four in the series. Don't ask which one I think is best. They're all lots of fun to watch.

Of course, the original didn't have as much humor as its sequels. Mel Gibson's character was a downtrodden loner, who was established as a "loose cannon." But as the series continued, he suddenly turned into Buddy Hackett, cracking jokes left and right.

Needless to say, Mel Gibson and Danny Glover make one of the best on-screen duos in the history of film. Their characters of Riggs and Murtaugh are like polar opposites, but that's the beauty of it. That's the essence of the buddy cop genre. The two partners are always at each other's throats, yet they share a great bond and deliver much humor.

Richard Donner is a spectacular action film director, and there are some breathtaking stunts. The opening truck chase is extremely memorable.

And each and every scene is buoyed by great comic relief. Gibson says a great line when he arrests the fraudulent truck driver: "You have the right to remain unconscious. Whatever you say...ain't gonna be much." That's a priceless line!

OK, so the plot is meandering. There are scenes that are very entertaining, yet don't really move the story along. But the whole movie is so funny and exciting that I just think...who gives a damn? I'm having too much fun!

Joe Pesci's character, Leo Getz, adds additional comic relief. His bleached blond do is hilarious enough, and his nebbish schtick makes it all the more humorous. Rene Russo is also added to the cast, to provide some good eye candy. Just like the Bond girls, there's always a sexy love interest in the "Lethal Weapon" movies. In the second movie, there was Patsy Kensit.

And there are some human elements to the story. Danny Glover's Murtaugh still thinks "he's getting too old for this s**t" and is about to retire. He's suffering a severe middle-age crisis and to add to his problems, he ends up killing one of his son's friends--which he did out of self-defense. Sometimes I think Glover's acting talent is underrated. And though this is a fluffy action/comedy, he delivers the kind of powerful performance he would in any Oscar-winning masterpiece.

"Lethal Weapon 3" again showcases the immense talent of its two irreplacable leads. This sequel packs a lethal punch and delivers first-class entertainment from start to finish. And I love that Eric Clapton/Sting song "It's Gonna Be Me."

My score: 8 (out of 10)

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?"