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Lethal Weapon 4 is a 1998 buddy cop/martial arts/action-comedy film directed by Richard Donner and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Chris Rock and Jet Li. It is the third sequel in the Lethal Weapon series of films.
Synopsis
In this installment of the Lethal Weapon series, Lorna Cole is pregnant with LAPD sergeant Martin Riggs' baby; they are not married, but both are thinking about it and have misgivings and fears. Police sergeant Roger Murtaugh's daughter Rianne is also pregnant and has secretly married Lee Butters (played by Chris Rock), a young detective who works at the same precinct as Murtaugh and Riggs, though she cannot tell her father because he does not want her to date any cops. Throughout the film, Butters seems to take an unusually friendly interest in Murtaugh, who fears Butters is romantically interested in him. Aware of this, Riggs uses it as a prank by heightening Murtaugh's fear about Butters, who in reality, is trying to get on his father-in-law's good side.
The opening scene is an unrelated sequence in which Riggs and Murtaugh confront a lunatic wearing a flame-retardant armored suit and wielding an assault rifle and a flamethrower. The unidentified man is destroying cars and shops along a city street. Aside from some comedic value and a reminder to the audience of Riggs' marksmanship skills, the scene mainly serves to show the two partners informing each other of Lorna's and Rianne's pregnancies. After this scene, a title card shifts the story to "almost nine months later."
The rest of the movie revolves around Riggs, Murtaugh, and Butters' - with some assistance from Leo Getz (Pesci), who is now a private detective - investigation of a Chinese immigrant smuggling ring, which begins after a vessel is captured with a cargo hold of slave labor. Right afterwards, Murtaugh finds a small dinghy alongside with an entire Chinese family, whom he "rescues" and provides shelter for at his house, claiming to be "freeing slaves."
Information about a crime boss named Benny Chan (Kim Chan), known as Uncle Benny, then leads them to Chinatown, where they are introduced to their new arch-nemesis, a high-ranking Triad negotiator named Wah Sing Ku (played by Jet Li). Ku is organizing the release from prison of four Triad overlords, called the Four Fathers. They are being held by a corrupt Chinese general who demands a huge payoff in exchange for their freedom, but Uncle Benny and Ku plan to give him only counterfeit cash. The captive artist working on the printing plates for the scam is the elder uncle to Hong, the father of the Chinese family Murtaugh has rescued; he agreed to do this job in exchange for his family's safe passage.
Riggs and Murtaugh decide to hire Leo to follow Uncle Benny around, but the Triad feels they are getting too close and decides to strike back. After Hong contacts his uncle, Riggs and Murtaugh come home to find Ku and other gang members holding Lorna and Murtaugh's family hostage; Hong and his family were already taken away. After a brief fight in which Ku reveals his impressive martial arts abilities (he manages to disassemble Riggs' gun with one quick move), the entire family is tied up and the house is set on fire with everyone inside, including both pregnant women. Ping, the youngest of the Hong children, manages to escape and frees them just in time to break out through the living room window. Ku brings Hong to see his uncle, then kills him in order to get the old man to cooperate.
Taking Lorna's car radio, Riggs and Murtaugh set off in Rianne's car to chase down the Triad men. The pursuit leads to a fight between Riggs and one of the thugs in a mobile home being hauled down the freeway; both the thug and his partner are ultimately killed in collisions with traffic, but neither one gives up any information on the Hongs' whereabouts. Leo informs them that Uncle Benny has gone to see his dentist, and while using Leo as a distraction to keep the dentist busy, Riggs, Murtaugh and Butters use nitrous oxide to extract information from him. Here Riggs inadvertently reveals that Butters is Rianne's husband and the father of her baby, but the effects of the laughing gas keep Murtaugh from getting angry at the time. Uncle Benny mentions the Four Fathers, which the detectives mis-hear as "forefathers"; another detective who knows about Chinese society later corrects them on this point and helps them piece the entire operation together. Both Benny and Hong's uncle are killed once the printing plates are complete: the former for his indiscretion, the latter to keep him from revealing the forgery.
Arriving at the meeting between Ku and the corrupt general, Riggs, Murtaugh, Butters and several other detectives expose the money that is being used to buy the Four Fathers' release as counterfeit; as a result, the general personally executes three of the Four Fathers. Ku shoots and kills the general, and a firefight breaks out between the cops, the Triads, and the general's private army in the foreign trade zone down by the docks. During the fight, Murtaugh kills the last of the Four Fathers, Ku's brother, while aiming for Ku, and Butters is injured while protecting Murtaugh. The climactic scene takes place on a pier where Ku faces off against the unarmed Riggs and Murtaugh. A brutal fight erupts, with both Riggs and Murtaugh truly outmatched by the whirlwind Ku. Eventually, Murtaugh is knocked out but not before impaling Ku with a rebar. Riggs and Ku fall into the water as the concrete pier begins to collapse. Riggs struggles with Ku underwater and shoots him to death, but a slab of concrete from the pier pins him underwater until Murtaugh swims down to save him.
A heavily bandaged Riggs visits his former wife's grave and apologizes for not having come by in a while. He is interrupted by the arrival of Leo, who tells a tearful story from his childhood that makes Riggs see the idea of remarrying in a new light. At this point, Riggs' pager goes off, indicating that Lorna is about to give birth, and he and Leo rush to the hospital. Riggs and Lorna are married by a rabbi just before both their baby and Rianne's are born, and Murtaugh finally accepts Rianne's marriage to Butters. The Hongs are granted political asylum in the United States, protecting them from being deported back to China. The end credits feature the song "Why Can't We Be Friends?" by War, along with a collage of screen shots and snapshots taken during production from all four movies in the series.
Themes
Prominent in the story is the idea that Riggs is now feeling his age and has started echoing Murtaugh's standard line about getting "too old for this shit." Riggs and Murtaugh resist this idea and talk numerous times in the film about the power of their own will to bring them through. Riggs and Lorna also have a couple of conversations about getting married now that she is going to have his child. This sets up a conflict for Riggs as he has not fully achieved closure after the death of his wife, Vicki, years before.
This installment also continues the series' tradition of political statements being integrated into the story. The film takes a couple of noticeable jabs at the NRA and features dialogue concerning U.S. immigration attitudes and the problem of slavery both past and present. There are also some running jokes carried over from the previous movies such as Riggs' antagonistic relationship with the police psychiatrist played by Mary Ellen Trainor and Leo's tendency toward profanity-laced tirades.
Reaction
Although the film grossed $130 million domestically, it was not considered a runaway financial success as the previous three films had been. Although shooting began in January 1998, just months before the film's release, the film had a production budget in excess of $140 million along with related advertising expenses. This made the fourth movie the most expensive entry of the Lethal Weapon franchise. Its profit margin was saved in part due to the combined foreign box office sales making the film gross approximately $285 million in total. [7] Still, like its predecessors, Lethal Weapon 4 was among the top 10 grossing movies of its release year.
Critical and fan reaction was mixed, with the film currently holding a 54% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[1] The main criticisms were, like its predecessor, the film offers little that is new and instead sticks to the formula from the previous films. Critics and fans are divided over whether this film is better or worse than Lethal Weapon 3.
The UK version is heavily edited by the BBFC, with 93 seconds removed due to violence. Ninety shots are removed in 38 separate cuts.
Cast and production notes
Jackie Chan was initially offered the role of Wah Sing Ku, but he declined since he does not like to play villain roles and would later work on Rush Hour. Instead, the film became Jet Li's American film debut. It is also the first film where Li plays the villain.
Mel Gibson was reluctant to revisit the franchise and was paid $25 million for the film. This is the only film in the franchise where his character's hair is cut shorter and he is not sporting his mullet hairstyle as he had in the previous three films.
After appearing in this film, Pesci announced that he was leaving acting in order to pursue his musical career and to enjoy life away from the camera. (Though in 2006, he would make a cameo appearance in the film The Good Shepherd, which was directed by friend and fellow actor Robert De Niro and will star in the 2009 movie Love Ranch as character Charlie Botempo).
Larenz Tate, Will Smith and Chris Tucker turned down the role of Detective Butters. Tucker turned down the role as he was filming Rush Hour and did not want to play a similar character. Smith turned it down considering it insulting, at that point in his career, to be offered a 'sidekick' role.
The freeway chase scene was filmed on an unopened section of Interstate 215 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Exit numbers (which were not installed on most California freeways until 2002) can be seen on highway signs during the pursuit.
Van Halen performed "Fire in the Hole" on the soundtrack (From the album Van Halen III).
The film is unusual in that its scenes were shot in order. Although the opening scene was shot in January 1998, it was set in late 1997, assuming the rest of the movie took place in the summer of 1998.
Uncle Benny speaks to Wah Sing Ku in Toishanese and Cantonese, two dialects of a southern province, while Wah Sing Ku speaks in Mandarin, the official language of China. It would be rare for both parties to understand each other fully.
Warner Bros introduced a new opening theme with this flim. The song As Time Goes By made famous in the flim Casablanca was used as the theme song and a photograph of the Warner backlot was featured.
Sequel
There has been talk of a fifth Lethal Weapon film, although both Mel Gibson and Danny Glover have expressed disinterest. In 2007, Moviehole.net received word from sources that Warner Bros. are in the early stages of trying to relaunch the Lethal Weapon series sometime in 2009 or later [2]. A spec script treatment has been written by Shane Black [3], leading to rumors that the sequel was on fast track by Warner Bros. with Black in the director's chair. Actor Columbus Short said he was being considered for the role of Murtaugh's son.[4] Director Richard Donner is not involved with these plans, but he has his own ideas for a Lethal Weapon 5. According to the LA Times, Gibson has refused to reprise his role as Martin Riggs for the fifth time, which Donner thinks is out of personal loyalty because Donner is not involved.[5] Joel Silver later confirmed Gibson’s lack of interest in the project. [6] "We talked about it, but it was something that Mel didn't want to do now," he explained. "It doesn't mean that he doesn't want to do it ever, but as of right now, he doesn't." [7].
References
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