L'Arme fatale 3

Plot In A Paragraph: Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Glover) pursue a former L.A.P.D. lieutenant turned ruthless arms dealer, during the six days prior to Murtaugh's retirement.

There is a massive drop in quality from the first two movies, and I think it is not helped by a lame villain. Rene Russo is a good addition to the cast though. This is a much watered down Lethal Weapon movie compared to the first two movies, and for this Zoner, Lethal Weapon 3 is the low point of the franchise for me. The lack of Shane Black is obvious. They up the comedy even more this time, and it falls a bit flat for me. The humour in the first two was great, this has a female security guard chasing Murtaugh around whilst Riggs is tricking him into kicking water coolers over.

Riggs is an absolute jerk at times in this one!! Gone is the man overcome with grief, looking for a reason to get through the day and is dangerously unpredictable as a result. Instead we get someone who eats raw onions and dog biscuits, threatens Jaywalkers with his gun, beats up movie directors, knocks out handcuffed suspects and makes random guesses on what Wire to cut on a bomb!! And that's without mention his treatment of his best friend and partner Murtaugh.

He constantly berates him about retiring despite it being the sensible option. Especially since he can't dress himself without accidentally setting off his gun. Riggs repeatedly put him in unnecessary danger. Surely Riggs should want his best friend safe at home with his family, out of danger. But no, he is incredibly selfish!!

Joe Pesci who I loved in the last one, is awful here. There is no reason for him to be here and he's just irritating.

Does the movie director Riggs assaults remind anyone of Steven Spielberg??

Lethal Weapon 3 grossed $144 million to finish the 4th highest grossing movie of 1992.

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?"

The first 'Lethal Weapon' wasn't perfect, but it is still a very good film and important to the development of the buddy-cop film as well as being one of the best examples. Its first sequel is almost as good, if just missing out on being on the same level or surpassing it.

'Lethal Weapon 3' is fun enough, and there is plenty to enjoy, but after the impressive first two films it was somewhat of a let-down. It didn't feel as fresh and had a ran out of ideas feel sometimes. Its weak link is the story, which does have some exciting moments and some good scenes but the first two films were much more focused and tight in plotting, here the story does meander in places and parts drag. Some of the dialogue is a lot of fun, some of it is repetitive and convoluted with a little too much emphasis at times on humour.

After being such a delight in the second film, Joe Pesci returns and one was hoping he would be a welcome presence. Sadly count me in as one of the people who found him underused, his character merely being a plot device and Pesci being irritating this time round (the first time ever he's had that effect on me). Was mixed on the villain, Stuart Wilson does enjoy himself immensely and does bring a sinister edge to easily the best acted head villain in comparison to the first two films where the henchmen were more memorable and better played. The character himself was a little sketchy in development however and he could have been used more.

However, the way 'Lethal Weapon 3' is shot and designed screams slick and stylish while Richard Donner once again directs with an assured hand. The score is atmospheric and groovy.

Parts of the script doe entertain hugely and crackle in wit and tension.

Once again, the action is slick and bursts with excitement and tension, with terrific stunts and the sheer scale of them being worthy of huge admiration. It is very easy to see why the chalk and cheese chemistry of the polar opposite characters of Riggs and Murtaugh became so popular, very rarely in a buddy-cop film has this kind of chemistry been so entertaining and perfectly pitched.

Mel Gibson continues to excel in a performance as witty and intense has before. Danny Glover gives Murtaugh the right amount of spirit, subtlety and no-nonsense attitude. Rene Russo brings some much needed freshness and gives a strong performance.

In summary, fun but the magic is not quite there for me. Not one of the best sequels there is, but hardly a disgrace and nowhere near among the worst. 6/10 Bethany Cox

This is a great series! Actually I could stop right here because I have already said what needs to be said but just for people's enjoyment I'll elaborate a little.

The acting is, much like in the two previous films, excellent. Somehow Mel Gibson and Danny Glover never seem to get tired of each other and it shows because their playful banter never seems to get tiring to the audience. Mel Gibson is a class actor and this time around he develops the character of Martin Riggs even further than he did in the second film. He is so good at portraying emotions that the audience genuinely feels with him. When he is angry you feel his anger and when he is sad you feel sad, you get the picture. The fact that he is so versatile shows in the contrasts of the character. He is both great in action-sequences and in romantic sequences. As for Danny Glover he also does a great job in bringing his character further and he really does in this installment because you get to see the more negative sides of the character this time around. In the first two films he was the character who didn't evolve much but took pride in it. This time, because retirement is rearing its ugly head, we get to see, what I must suppose was, the facade stripped away and see Murtaugh in his raw, pure form. Joe Pesci also returns this time for the comic relief and he is still funny. There is just something about the character of Leo Getz that is incredibly entertaining. However, the best performance is perhaps done by Stuart Wilson, an incredibly underrated actor who has sadly never really achieved a commercial breakthrough. He is the villain of this film and is perhaps the best villain of the series simply because he has more depth than any other villain in the series. He is also given considerably more screen time than many of the other villains so he really has a chance to shine. Rene Russo appears in this film as Riggs new romantic interest and she may not be the most gifted actress ever to be on film but her chemistry with Mel Gibson is undeniable and her on-screen presence is pretty amazing considering that she is a new entry to the character gallery.

The story of the film is the weakest out of all the series (yes even the fourth one) and sometimes it kinda drags. Mainly, however, the story is still highly entertaining and funny. The best element of the script is the fact that villain is an ex-cop this time around and that does that the heroes can hate the villain even more because he is, aside from being a mean bastard, a traitor, almost a symbol of the back-side of the medallion.

The action of the film is just like in the two previous movies absolutely brilliant. The action is highly entertaining and well made and Mel Gibson is excellent as an action star as well as many other things.

All in all a great entry to a great series.

7/10

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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