So, its time for another post and as I looked at Lethal Weapon 2 again, I figured I would look at Lethal Weapon 3 once again also even though this post would be a revisit of a revisit! So, I will do my usual bit of expanding on certain sections etc.
So, let's take another look at Lethal Weapon 3 again...
And the usual warning is coming...
PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!
STORY
So, the film begins with Riggs and Roger (Gibson and Glover again)
making a hasty decision to try and defuse a bomb, which has been
placed in a building, which has been evacuated. However it all ends in disaster
as Riggs triggers the bomb and escapes with Murtaugh (and a cat!) just in time as
it blows up. As a result both men are demoted to carrying out uniform
patrolman duties, which annoys Murtaugh who has only seven days left
before he is due to retire.
During their first day on the beat, Riggs and Roger thwart a robbery involving an armoured car, but they only catch one of
the suspects as the other escapes. As a result of their effort to stop
the robbery, their superior officer Captain Murphy (Steve Kahan)
reinstates Riggs and Murtaugh. Riggs and Murtaugh are then introduced
to an Internal affairs officer, Sergant Lorna Cole (Rene Russo) who
tells them the suspect they have captured is in fact an associate of
former LAPD Lieutenant Jack Travis (Stuart Wilson) who is now an arms
dealer.
Meanwhile Travis deals with the other man who
escaped the armoured car crime scene by having his men throw him into
cement and uses it to show to a mobster Tyrone (Gregory Millar) that he
isn't to be messed with. Travis then manages to access the police
lock-up and kills the other associate who the police have captured.
However Travis was caught on camera carrying out the execution and as
Leo Getz (Joe Pesci) arrives at the station, paying visit to his two
police buddies and he recognises Travis and he tells him where they can
find him.
This leads Riggs, Murtaugh and Leo to an ice
rink where a ice
hockey match is in progress and right enough Travis is there in the
crowd, however he manages to escape before they can get to him. Leo is
also injured in a kefuffle with Travis, who shoots Leo in the arm as
they struggle just before Travis flees the scene and Leo after goes to
hospital where Riggs fabricates a reason to keep Leo in hospital for a
couple of days so they can steer clear of him.
Later
on Riggs and Murtaugh make a stop off at a burger van, run by an old
friend of Murtaugh's, however nearby Riggs eyes a drug deal in process,
which he breaks up, but he is attacked by one of the suspects, and
Murtaugh chases after him and kills one of them, which turns out to be a
young boy named Darryl, who was a friend of his son, Nick (Damon
Hines). Roger is overcome with guilt as a result and becomes withdrawn
and hides out on his boat.
In the meantime Riggs
teams up with Cole and they head to Travis's warehouse where they are
caught by Travis's henchmen but they manage to fight them off and escape
with most of the guns shipment. Riggs heads back to Cole's apartment
where they begin to flirt with one another, showing off their wounds
from being in the line of duty to one another, they begin to fall for
one another and sleep together.
Riggs later learns that Roger has not
returned home and he goes to confront Roger on his boat, who is drunk,
but Riggs helps him face his guilty and get over it. The next day Riggs
and Roger attend Darryl's funeral who's parents insist that Roger find
the man who put the gun in their son's hand. Riggs and Roger than start
trying to track down who was responsible and they trace it to Travis.
Travis meanwhile kidnaps Murphy and uses him to access the police's arms
dumps concealed in the lower basements of the police department. Cole
during her investigations realises this is what Travis is up to and they
track Travis and soon give chase and rescue Murphy, however Travis once
again escapes. However Leo soon turns up on the scene and as he has
been helping Riggs and Roger to try and track down info on Travis, reveals where
Travis's construction site is and Riggs and Rog head off to put a
stop to Travis's plans once and for all.....
THOUGHTS
Lethal
Weapon 3 remains a pretty solid entry in the series and it has good
mix of humour, action and a bit of drama as well thrown in.
The tone of the film is however is actually more overtly comedic than
the first two films and this time we practically have Riggs living in
Roger's house (at the start of the film he even brings his laundry
over!).
It also sees the situations get even more preposterous with
Riggs at the start of the film convincing Roger to go into an evacuated
building to try and defuse a bomb which goes badly wrong as the building
is razed to the ground (but they manage to save a cat at least!). The
dynamic between Riggs and Roger is still strong as ever and the
chemistry between Gibson and Glover works as well as it ever has despite anything else.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and strong language!)
Performance
wise things are again pretty good here as the regular and supporting cast all in excellent form.
Mel Gibson, who is in
fine form again as Riggs and this time he comes across like he is some
sort of amateur comedian, cracking gags and being a bit of a practical
joker with Roger although there are times where he can be a real dick!
And
Mel has his share of good scenes in the film such as the one where
Riggs and Roger head into the evacuated building at the start to try and
diffuse the bomb place in there. And in the scene just before they go
in, Roger yells at Riggs "THERE IS A BOMB IN THAT BUILDING!! And know
why???" and Riggs asks "Why?" and Roger tells him "Cos I have 8 days to
my retirement and I am NOT gonna make a stupid mistake!". However,
Riggs insists " Look, there is no bomb in that building! I will bet
vital parts of my anatomy to the fact! Trust me, okay? Trust me!" and he
heads in but then asks Roger "Hey, Rog, are you insured?" and Murtaugh says "Yeah of course, why?" and Riggs says "Because there COULD be a bomb in there!" and Murtaugh groans "Oh, God!!".
However as Riggs is about snip one of the wires
on the bomb he asks a panicking Roger "Aren't you gonna miss all this
stuff when you retire?? Aren't you gonna miss just a little bit??" and
Roger says nothing. So, Riggs then cuts one of the wires and after he
does it, the timer starts to rapidly drop and he says to Roger
"Rog....grab the cat!" and they grab a nearby cat and run out the
building just before it blows. And after its reduced to a pile of
rubble, Riggs and Roger emerge from behind a police car and Riggs says
"Whoops!".
Then there is scene where after Riggs stops
two guys, who hijacked an armoured truck, with one of them escaping,
Riggs subdues the other one at the wheel as the man is sent flying
through window onto the bonnet of the truck So, afterward, Riggs
handcuffs the man and he sees he has been knocked out by the impact so
Riggs says to him "You have the right to remain unconscious. Anything
you say ain't gonna be much!". And shortly after the man starts to come
round a little and Riggs asks him "Are you alright?" and Riggs then
knocks him out with a single punch and says "Back to bed! Back to
bed!".
Also there is the ridiculous
scene where Riggs and Lorna flirt with one another and show off their
wounds as a bit of foreplay before they get down to making out with one
another. And in the scene it get's to the point where Riggs drops his
jeans to show the knife wound he got from the 2nd film (where he was
stabbed in the leg by the South African villain, Pieter Vorstedt) and
Lorna gives in and doesn't want to know anymore. So, Riggs says "Come
on, this is the blue-ribbon event here, babe!" and Lorna says "Forget
it, Riggs" and Riggs says "You started this!" and Lorna tells him "Yeah
and I can end it".
So, Riggs pushes her more and says
"You know you're very poor loser" and Lorna tells him "No, I conceded.
There's a difference between losing and conceding!" and Riggs asks her
"You're conceding or you're conceited?!". Lorna, rattled then asks
Riggs "You think I'm conceited" and Riggs walks closer to her "Oh yeah,
tell me you lost, admit to it" and as Lorna is about to go and get Riggs
a band aid, he moves in and kisses her. And after Riggs steps back a
little and grins and says a little nervously "You're gonna smack the
shit out of me, right?" and Lorna tells him "I can do better than that,
Riggs!" and she drops him to the floor and they make out some more.
Another
good scene is when Riggs goes to confront Roger on his boat as Roger is
getting drunk and riddled with guilt over killing his son's friend,
Darryl. And as a drunken Roger angrily tries to take a swing at Riggs,
Riggs angrily tells Rog "Look, that kid was a killer, alright? That
wasn't a Tinker Toy in his hand, that was a machine pistol with twin
carbies and all the trimmings, man! He would've drilled you, me, anybody
that came along, alright? You had no choice!".
Then as
Roger starts to angrily babble about how Riggs is an ice cold killer and
has never killed a young boy like hiss, Riggs furiously spits back "YOU
SELFISH BASTARD! You selfish bastard, you're just thinking about
yourself! What about me? We're partners, we are partners. What happens
to you, happens to me!". Riggs then says "After all the shit we've been
through, don't you get it? Don't you get it? When you retire, you're
not just retiring you, you're retiring us. You're retiring us!". Roger
however simply says to him "Its not my problem. Not my problem!" but
Riggs goes on "You're the only family I've got! I've got three beautiful
kids, I love them, they're yours. Trish does my laundry, I live in your
icebox, I live in your life! What am I gonna do? What am I supposed to
do?!!". And the two of them roar at each other as Rog shouts "I don't
care!!" and Riggs shouts back "Yes, you do!" and Rog again shouts "I
DON'T CARE!!" and Riggs shouts again "YES, YOU DO!!" before they finally
make amends.
Another funny moment comes when
after Roger has witnessed Lorna kick some ass after they questioned a
perp over Jack Travis's whereabouts and he now wants to learn a few
kung-fu moves. So, Riggs demonstrates a back-spin kick to Roger and he
tells him "Let me try something. Watch this. It's called a backspin
kick. Pivot on the right, kick with your left...and you whip that head
around to catch the target over there". Riggs the get's ready to
demonstrate "Like this. Get that head around and follow through. Like
so. So, you whip the head..." and he performs his kick and says to Roger
after "All right?". So, Riggs directs Roger on where to stand "We
don't want you to bump into the pole. Just back up a little bit. A
little bit more. Okay, good. Mind and body strong, now, grasshopper.
Okay. Go". And as Roger performs his kick he ends up knocking over a
water jug, much to the hilarity of Riggs and everyone else and Riggs
says "He can't hold his water, boys!".
Then there is the scene where (SPOILER!!!) Riggs and Roger take down Travis
at his construction site and Lorna is injured in the crossfire as Travis
shot her and after Riggs comforts Lorna and checks her and sees she is
wearing two bullet proof vests. So, Riggs tells Roger "She had two vests
on. She's gonna be okay. A couple of bad ones. We need to get a
chopper". Riggs then comforts Lorna as we see the burning fires at the
construction site in the background "You're all right, partner. Hang on.
It's okay, it's okay. Just lie still. Just lie still. Just a romantic
evening by the fire, just the two of us!". And Riggs then tells Lorna
as she is put in a chopper to be sent off to hospital "What were you
tryin to prove out there?! You're supposed to grow old with someone not
because of them!".
And last of all is the final scene of the film where Roger decides not to retire and he meets Riggs outside, who grins at him and Rog annoyed asks him "What are you smiling at?" and Riggs says to him "I knew you wouldn't retire. I've been wrong about a couple of things in my life but I just knew you wouldn't retire". So, Roger tells Riggs as they are about to get into the car "Riggs, when I do retire, I hope your next partner is just like you!" and Riggs says "That's not gonna happen because there are winners and losers and God wouldn't do that to me!" and Roger says "Well, he did it to me!". So, Riggs says "I know" and he disappears as he is about to get in the car but he suddenly reappears "See what I mean?" and he goes out of view again and as Roger is about to speak, Riggs pops up again and says "My point exactly!" and Roger annoyed, hits the roof of the car to get him inside.
Danny Glover is great once again as Roger Murtaugh, Riggs's long
suffering partner, who is often the butt of his practical jokes. Danny
however has a chance to show a bit of depth as a dramatic actor, as
Roger becomes wracked with guilt over a self defence shooting of a young
boy, who was friends with his own son.
So, Danny has his share of good moments also that include the first
scene where Roger and Riggs are about to go in to investigate a bomb
that has been placed in a big building with the place now evacuated,
however Roger is reluctant to while Riggs is gung-ho to go in and
diffuse the bomb. So, in the scene Roger yells at Riggs "THERE IS A
BOMB IN THAT BUILDING!! And do you know I know there's a bomb in that
building?? Cos, I have eight days to my retirement and I will NOT make a
stupid mistake!". So, Riggs tells Roger "Look, there is no bomb in
that building! I will bet
vital parts of my anatomy to the fact! Trust me, okay? Trust me!" and he
heads off without Roger, who says to himself "That's usually my first
mistake!". And Roger runs after Riggs and says "Riggs, wait!" and Riggs
asks him "Roger, is you insurance all paid up?" and Roger says "Yeah, of course.
Why?" and Riggs tells him "Cos, there COULD be a bomb in there!" and
Roger groans and says "Oh, God!!".
Then there is the following scene where Riggs and Roger are forced to
take on patrolman duties after their calamity with the bomb. So, as
both men patrol the streets in their police uniforms, Roger moans "Seven
days to retirement and I'm busted down to patrolman!". And Riggs
ruefully says of the bomb "I should have cut the red wire" and Roger
says "You did cut the red wire" and Riggs says "No, I didn't I cut the
red wire". So, Roger says "That's what I meant. We should have waited
for the bomb squad!" and Riggs groans and says "Am I gonna have to
listen to this every day?" and Roger says "Every day until I retire!"
and Riggs says "That'll be a week too long!".
Then the two of them bitch and moan about how Roger's feet are killing
him and Riggs says Rog's feet are killing him too cos he is bitching
about them all the time. So, Roger shouts "Yeah, and you're gonna have
to listen to me bitch, because you should have cut the red wire!" and
Riggs shouts "I DID CUT THE RED WIRE!!". Riggs suddenly grabs Roger's
midrife in anger and notices something and says to Rog "What's this?
Its kind of soft...it won't keep anything out" and Roger says "It will
keep my stomach in!" and Riggs, curious, asks "What have you got under
there?" and Roger quietly says "Its a girdle" and Riggs asks "A what?"
and Roger says through gritted teeth "A girdle!". Riggs, skeptically
asks "They make girdles for men??" and Roger testily says "Yeah they
make girdles for men. I have worn this uniform in 15 years! The
cleaners must have shrunk it!".
Another good scene and a more dramatic one is when Riggs busts up a drug
deal between gang bangers and he is struck from behind by one of the
dealers and Roger then backs him up and points his gun at a hut where
someone opens fire at them and Rog returns fire. So, as Roger edges his
way toward the door he shouts "Back me up, Riggs!" and Riggs groggily
get's to his feet, as a young looking black fella crawls out of the hut
and then collapses dead. Roger then moves up to the body and turns it
over to see that it is Darryl, a friend of his son, Nick.
So, Roger shocked says "Darryl! Oh fuck, no! Don't!" and he shouts to
Riggs "Riggs, call an ambulance! Call an ambulance! Breathe!" and he
tearfully says "Fuck, it's Darryl! Oh, God, don't do this to me!
Breathe! Fuckin breath!" as he thumps Darryl's chest to try and revive
him. However, Riggs pulls Roger back from Darryl's body and he tells
him "Come on, Roger he's dead, don't mess with the kid. It was a clean
shoot. He was gonna do you and he was gonna do me. Its okay. Are you
okay?". And Roger, in a state of shock says quietly to Riggs "Its not
okay. I know that kid. I know that kid. He was Nick's friend" and he
walks away.
Then there is the scene where Riggs confronts Roger on his boat, as
Roger is getting drunk as he is riddled with guilt over killing Darryl.
And after the two of them fight, Roger tearfully says to Riggs "I don't
know what I'm saying anymore. I don't know what I'm thinking. I had
three days, and now this!". Roger then starts to make amends and says
to Riggs "No, I'm really sorry. I didn't realize...that my retirement
was gonna screw you up" and Riggs says "I haven't got any problems,
man. I was out of line saying that shit".
So, Roger then drunkenly says to Riggs "Riggs, look... You know I love
you. You know I love you, Riggs. And your problems are my problems. Like
you said, what happens to you...happens to me. So try me". And Riggs
embarrassed says to Roger "Well, I do have a little problem...ah, you
don't want to hear this. This is piddly shit!" but Roger says
insistently "Yes, I do want to hear. I do! I'm here. I'm here!". So,
Riggs nervously says "Well...I think I may have slept with someone who I
probably shouldn't have" and Roger takes a moment and furiously says
"You son of a bitch!!" and punches Riggs and sends him flying into the
water.
So, Roger then goes pull Riggs up, who instead pulls Roger into the
water with him and Riggs asks "Why did you hit me for?" and Roger says
"Cos you slept with Rianne!" and Riggs says "I did not!" and Roger asks
"Who did you sleep with?" and Riggs says "I slept with Sergeant Cole".
And Roger looks disgusted at him and asks "Sgt Cole from traffic???!"
and Riggs says "NO, not Sgt Cole from traffic! Lorna! Sgt Cole from
traffic is her uncle!".
Another good moment is when Roger angrily knocks the door of a criminal
connected to Travis, who opens it and Roger grabs the man and points
Darryl's gun at him. And Roger shouts "Where did this gun come from,
motherfucker?!" and the man shouts "Fuck you!". Roger then shouts back
"Ever heard of the word "genocide"? Have you, stupid motherfucker? Have
you ever heard of genocide? You fools are killing yourselves! You're
killing us! I'm tired of it! I'm tired of it! Motherfucker! You'd better
tell me where this come from or I'll blow motherfuckin' brain out!".
Then there is the funny scene where Roger is keen to learn a kung-fu
move and Riggs shows him a back-spin kick and Roger tries it out only
for Riggs to play a practical joke on him as Roger kicks over a water
cooler. And then Roger's female admirer, Dolores turns up looking for
him (who helped Riggs and Roger in a pursuit earlier in the film and
took a shine to Roger in the process) and he hides as she gives some
flowers and chocs to Riggs, who covers for Roger. And Roger says to
Riggs "She calls me all the time. She leaves me notes. What am I going
to do?!" and Riggs teases him and says "Well, you shouldn't have lead
her on in the first place". Roger then protests and says "I didn't lead
her on, Riggs...I..." and at this point the police psychiatrist walks
up to Roger, who is on his knees talking to Riggs, and says "Sergeat, we
have GOT to talk!". And Riggs says "We've got to work. Come on. Let's
go. Thanks for your concern" and Roger hands the flowers and chocs to
the psychiatrist and says "Thanks, Doc. You're a beauty!" and Roger is
lead away by Riggs with Rog still on his knees!
And last of all there is the scene where at the end Roger (SPOILER!!!)
decides to stay on the force just as his family surprise with a
retirement cake while he is having his bath. However, Roger tells them
"I can't retire. I thought I would. I wanted to but I can't" and Trish
asks "Does that you're staying on the force" and Roger tells her "That
means I'm staying on the force, babe".
And as Leo suddenly barges in
and tells Roger that he has finally sold his house (as Leo is now a real
estate agent in the film) Roger then tells Leo "Hey, Leo! The house is
off the market. We're gonna stay in this "termite-infested turkey" for
another ten years!". And after Leo argues with Roger, Rog tells him to
get out and Trish shuts the door on Leo and she turns to Roger and says
"YOUR friends!". Roger then says to her "Ten more years till Force
retirement. That's 3,650 days" and Trish rather flirtingly says "49!"
and Roger grabs hold of her pulls her into the bath as the two of them
cuddle.
Rene Russo next up is great also as Lorna Cole, an internal
affairs cop, who is investigating what's going on behind the gun running
that involves the ex-cop, Travis and she ends up being romantically
involved with Riggs after an initial rocky start.
And Rene has her share of good scenes as well such as the scene where
Roger and Riggs go to Murphy's office and complain about how they are
not being allowed to question the armoured suspect, Billy Phelps who was
involved in the hijack of the car. So, as they argue and as fellow IA
officer, Walters says of Riggs and Roger "All they seem to contribute is
mayhem and choas" and Riggs sarcily says "No, I'm Chaos" and of Roger
"He's Mayhem. We're a double act! What are we? Required reading or
something?!". And Lorna tells Riggs "As a matter of fact, you are. It's
a cross between Police Gazette and Mad Magazine!" and Riggs asks her
"What's wrong with Mad?" and Lorna says "Nothing, I used to read it..."
and Riggs says "Well, you've got some good taste..." and Lorna says
"When I was 12!".
Then there is the moment where after Billy Phelps has been killed
Travis, who sneaks into the station, using his former cop status to get
in, Riggs, Roger and Murphy examine the security cam footage but it
shows that Travis is covering himself up deliberately so he is not shown
on camera. However, Lorna comes in with another video tape taken from a
video camera installed in the interrogation room. So, Lorna tells them
"We installed them six months ago, every station" and Murphy complains
"Six months they've been here and we don't know about it?!". Riggs then
says "This is the "police, police" Captain" and Lorna says to Riggs
""Police police." Very good. Can you say that three times in a row, real
fast?!". Riggs then teases her and says "Am I getting to you? Am I
getting to you?" and Lorna asks him "Are you trying to bait me?" and
Riggs cracks "I'm a master at that!" and Lorna with a disgusted look
says "That figures!".
Another good moment and a more dramatic one is when Riggs and Lorna
argue in the men's room (as Riggs invites her to step into his
"orifice!") over him with holding information over Leo's tip on Travis.
And Lorna says to Riggs "You purposefully withheld information
concerning a case under my investigation" and Riggs says to her "You're
damn right I did!" but Lorna insists "You had a tip on Travis. You
should have shared it with me. No, I take that back. You were REQUIRED
to share it with me!". Riggs then turns to her and says "I was
"required" to share it with you? I don't have to share shit with you.
School yard rules: If you don't scratch my back, I don't throw you...".
Lorna then interrupts him angrily and says "I can't do that, Riggs!"
and Riggs says "Yes, you can!" and Lorna shouts "I couldn't do that even
if I wanted to!".
So, Riggs the finally loses his temper and says "Why don't you cut out
this classified bullshit! Right now! It's giving me the shits! We're
cops. You're a cop, I'm a cop. We're both on the same side, right?!" and
Lorna shouts "RIGHT!!". Riggs then shouts back "Good! Why don't we
start to act like it. There are kids out there. Babies. No brains, but
they got automatic weapons. Yesterday, my partner, he nailed this
kid...!" and Lorna says "I know about, Murtaugh. And I'm sorry,
Riggs". Riggs then takes a moment and pleads with Lorna "Why don't you
let me in on this? I can help you. I really want to help you, if you'll
let me. Let me. What do you say? Have we got a deal?". Riggs extends
his hand out to shake hers and Lorna looks at him, realising he hasn't
washed his hands after peeing and tells him "Wash your hands,
Riggs...and meet me in my office".
Then there is the scene where Riggs and Lorna pay a visit to a warehouse
where Travis's men are stashing guns into boxes and they first of all
encounter a guard dog. And as they see the dog, Riggs says "Looks like
Billy's grandmother owns a big dog" and Lorna, nervous says "That's not a
dog, its a horse!". Riggs then says "I don't get that" and Lorna
nervously says "You don't get what? Its a dog. Its a fucking dog!" and
Riggs says to her of her earlier joke "I don't get, "Close, is a
lingerie shop without a front window." I don't get it" and Lorna says
"Riggs, later!". Then Riggs moves toward the dog and tames it and
before we know he's feeding the dog some dog biscuits (which Riggs got
from Roger earlier on to help him quit smoking) and Lorna looks on as
Riggs make some dog noises and says "Riggs...you're crazy!".
And then we get to that scene where Riggs and Roger show off their
wounds to each other (a la Jaws style) from being in the line of duty.
And in the scene at the start Riggs asks Lorna if she has anything for
his head, which he injured during their raid of the warehouse and she
says "Riggs, I was raised with four brothers. We got hurt often, but if
no bones were broken or blood gushed, nobody cared" and Riggs shows her
his head wound "Look. See! Blood!" and Lorna says "Its not gushing!".
Then as they start to show off each other their wounds, Riggs having
taken his shirt off then drops his trousers to show Lorna the knife
wound in his leg but then she quickly loses interest and says "I'll take
your word for it, Riggs!". And Riggs says "Come on, this is a
blue-ribbon event here, babe!" and Lorna says "Forget it, Riggs" and
Riggs says "You started this!" and Lorna tells him "Yeah and I can end
it". Riggs the finally makes his move on Lorna as they kiss and he
backs off a little nervously and says "You're gonna smack the shit out
of me, right?" and Lorna says "I can do better than that, Riggs" and she
sweeps Riggs's leg to drop him to the floor and they start making out.
Another good moment is when Riggs, Roger and Lorna question certain
criminals connected to Travis and question one at a garage when another
man shouts "What the hell is goin on here?!". And Lorna goes over to
the man and says "Do any of you know a Mr Travis?" and the man says "You
got a warrant?" and Lorna says "No, but I can't get one" and the man
tells her "Well, until you do...fuck off". Lorna then says "Now, that's
not a nice thing to say to a lady" and the man says "Fuck you!" and
Lorna says "I don't think so!" and proceeds to kick his ass and the
other men in the garage with her martial arts skills. And as the last
man has Lorna in a tight crush, Roger helps her out and knocks the man
out and she spin around ready to hit him but Roger backs off and Lorna
tells him "This PMS...its murder!".
And lastly there is the scene where Lorna follows Riggs and Roger to the
construction site to have their final showdown with Travis. Lorna
cocks her gun as she stands behind Riggs and Rog and she tells them "Put
your hands down. Its embarrassing". Riggs asks Lorna "How did you get
here?" and Lorna says "Drove" and they both groan at her sarcasm and
Lorna says "I ran into Leo at the police station". So, Lorna asks "Any
ideas?" and Riggs says "Lucky thing is we've got a plan" and Lorna says
"Lucky thing. What is it?" and Riggs grins and tells her "I want it to
be a surprise" and Lorna sarcastically says "Oh, I love surprises!" and
she rolls her eyes.
Joe Pesci next up is priceless once again as Leo Getz, the
annoying, yet useful ex-money launderer, who helps out Riggs and Roger
from time and time and is now a legit real-estate agent, who at the
start of the film tries to sell Roger's house as Rog is preparing for
his retirement. Of course this time round, Pesci is sporting a ridiculous looking bleach blonde hairdo as well as an earring!
And Joe has his share of good moments also that include his first scene
where Leo shows a couple around Roger's house, while Roger, Riggs and
his family all hide in the kitchen. And Leo is compelled to tell full
truth about the goings-on that happened over the years in Roger's
house. So, as he shows them the living room the couple of a picture
window "Oh, it had to be replaced" and the man asks "Why?" and Leo tells
them "A drug dealer came through with his car and crashed right in.
Shot up the whole place!". So, the couple laugh incredulously at Leo as
they don't believe him but Leo says "No, its true. Its true! Its
true! I have to tell you this. It's the law. It's called "full
disclosure." And the man angrily asks "Is there anything else you want
to "disclose" before you go on??" and Leo sighs and says "Now that you
mention it, the bathroom has been completely remodeled...due to
unexpected bomb damage!".
Then there is the moment where Leo turns up at the station and sees the
interrogation video tape footage of Travis and he tells Riggs and Roger
that he knows the guy. So, Leo tries to remember who Travis is and how
he knows him and he tells them "I'm thinking. Let me think. It was a big
party. Someone brought a monkey that knocked over the salad bar. And
this guy comes in and introduces me to another guy...who wants a
favor". So, after a moment, Leo suddenly shouts out "I got it! I got
it!" and Riggs and Roger both exclaim in excitement and Riggs goes to
give Leo a kiss but Leo stops him and says "Don't do it! Don't let the
earring fool you!". So, Leo excitedly says "We're back! We're BACK!!
Listen, do you think I could have a gun this time?" and as we cut to an
ice rink we hear Riggs and Roger dubbed over yelling
"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!".
Another funny moment from Joe is when Leo get's out of the hospital
after he has been treated for his gunshot wound as a result of his
scuffle with Travis at the ice rink, and he goes to the police station
to see Riggs and Roger. So, as Riggs asks Leo why he is out of the
hospital, Leo angrily tells the pair "Don't mention the hospital. I told
you not to leave me there. They tried to take my appendix out! They
gave me a lapotomy!". Riggs then asks "A labotomy?" and Leo says "No, a
LAPOTOMY. Why don't you cut your hair so you can hear, Riggs??".
Riggs then asks "What's the difference?" and Leo tells him "The
difference is with a lapotomy they shave your...nether...regions,,," and
he looks at Lorna and says "I can't say it infront of her..." and he
points to it instead.
So, Leo rants away to Riggs and Roger similarly as to how he did in
Lethal Weapon 2 about the drive-thru, except this time its about the
hospital. So, Leo rants "You know what I say? They FUCK you in the
hospital. First they drug you, then they FUCK you! When they're
done...the insurance company comes and FUCK YOU SOME MORE!!! $10 FOR A
FUCKING ASPIRIN!!".
And last of all is the scene where Leo turns up just at the scene of the
chase just after Travis evades Riggs for a second time. And Leo says
to Riggs and Roger "What did I miss?? A great chase! Great chase!".
Riggs then asks Leo "Leo, how did you find us?!" and Leo says "Police
scanner?" and Roger asks "What are you doing with a police scanner?" and
Leo scoffs and says "Hello, Car 54, where are you???!! Listen! Mesa
Verde's legit. They got a housing project, called Rancho Arroyo". So,
as Riggs and Roger are about to head off there, Leo says "I'll come with
you" and Roger says "You're not coming with us" but Leo insists "Yes, I
am. I'll take my car". So, then Riggs shoots one of Leo's tyres,
leaving Leo outraged "I can't believe you did that! I've got a spare!!"
and Roger then shoots the other tyre, leaving Leo even more furious
"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT??!!". So, after the two of them drive off, Leo
rants and says "I can't believe they did that!!" and he turns to a
female officer nearby and asks her "Excuse me. Do you own your own
home??".
Stuart Wilson is also pretty good in his role as the main
villain, Jack Travis, a disgraced cop, who is now a gunrunner, who is
out stealing from the LAPD's secret cache and comes under the watchful
eye of Lorna as well as the vengeful eye of Riggs and Murtaugh.
Wilson has some good moments also such as his first scene where Travis
meets with a gun dealer, Tyrone (Gregory Millar) and he deals with one
of his employees, Smitty, who he ends up throwing into cement where he
cement is poured over him. And Travis in the scene says to Tyrone
"Employee problems. You know how it is? You invest time and energy into
training somebody. Then, they get greedy and do something stupid that
jeopardizes everything!". Tyrone then tries to walk away, clearly
uncomfortable with the situation and he says "Its a bitch!" and Travis
grabs him and says "Stick around. This is the good part. We can put our
initials in there!" and Tyrone walks off in disgust saying "Jesus
Christ!" leaving Travis to laugh to himself.
Then there is the scene where Travis goes into the interrogation room
and kills Billy Phelps, the other suspecting in an armoured car
jacking. So, in the scene Travis goes into the room and says to Billy
"Hi, Billy" and Billy looks somewhat surprised to see him and says "Jack!" but then Travis shoots him dead and he checks Billy's pulse and says "See you, Billy" and walks out. And as Travis walks
out, one of the cops asks him "Did you get what you need, Sergeant?" and
Travis replies "No, its a dead issue, I'm afraid!".
Another good scene for Wilson is when Tyrone calls up and complains
about how Riggs and Lorna raided a warehouse where they were storing
guns and now Tyrone is intent on calling off his deal with Travis. So,
in the scene, Tyrone on the phone says to one of Travis's associates
"You said you had the cops under control. I see that isn't so. Give me
one reason...why I should do business with you?!". So, Travis then
grabs the phone and tells Tyrone "Tyrone, this is Travis. You back out
now, and I'll make sure only your dentist can identify the body. Is that
a good enough reason for you?!". Tyrone then takes a moment to
consider what Travis has said and says "But I need ammo! I'm out of
business without ammo! I need the good stuff". Travis then tells him
"You'll get ammo. The good stuff" and hungs up and says to associate
"The good stuff....Jesus! Time to pay another visit to the LAPD".
Then there is the scene where Travis takes Murphy captive so he can
enter the LAPD's weapons cache. And Murphy says to Travis "You used to
be one of us, for Christ's sake, Jack!" and Travis tells Murphy "You
know what future a cop has? None. Punch a clock for 30 years.
Retirement. Pension. Nothing to do. Drunk at noon, bullet in the brain
by evening. Not for this kid. Police Department's got it all: Guns,
ammo, drugs, cash. It's a one-stop shopping center if you got the balls
and the brains. Not a fuckin thing anybody can do about it!". And Murphy
says to him "You're already fucking history, Jack and you know it!" and
Travis grins and says "Sorry, Murph, I'm just getting started!".
SPOILER WARNING FOR THIS PARAGRAPH!!!!
And last of all there is the scene where Travis fights Riggs near the
end and Travis get's in a digger and attempts to run over Riggs. And
Travis yells at Riggs "Killed in the line of duty, Riggs!" and as he
bears down on Riggs with the digger, he yells "You'll get a great
funeral from the department, Riggs!!!". But then Roger turns up and
saves the day as he throws Riggs, Darryl's uzi (now loaded with armour
piercing bullets) and Riggs riddles Travis with bullets. Riggs then
goes up to a now dying Travis, who weakly looks up at him and says with
his last breath "Go to hell, Riggs...." and Riggs says to him "You
first..." and he puts Travis's foot down on the digger's accelerator and
causes it to crash into the constructions that are on fire.
Steve Kahan is very good once again in his role as Captain Ed
Murphy, Riggs and Roger's superior officer, who long suffers the pair of
them!
And Kahan has his good moments also that include the scene when Riggs
and Roger both complain to Murphy about Lorna's involvement with Billy
Phelps as they see him as their suspect to question and not hers. So,
in the scene, Roger argues "We busted him, so we can talk to him" and as
they both head out the door, Murphy yells at them to come back in
"RIGGS!! MURTAUGH!!! Get your asses back in here!!". Murphy then
throws Roger and Riggs their badges and tells them "You'll need these.
I'm reinstating both of you" and with Roger and Riggs both delighted,
Riggs tells Murphy "You really are a beautiful man!". Murphy tells
Riggs "Get rid of the blues, they don't go with your pony-tail" and
Riggs says "Absolutely not!" and Murphy says "And get a haircut!" and
Riggs quips "Of course I won't!" and he and Roger leaves.
And this leaves IA officer, Walters furious with Murphy and he tells
Murph "You've just exceeded your authority, Captatin!" and Murphy says
"That's not how I see it" and Walter says "That's how the chief will see
it!" and Murphy says "Well, you just take it up with him". And Walter
before leaving says "I think I will. Catch up with them. We don't want
this screwed up with cowboy tactics" and Murphy calls after him "You'll
have to get him in between lunches!" and he says to himself of Walters
"Son of a bitch!".
And lastly there is scene where Murphy is leaving the station and he
spots Walters, who says to him "Men cross the street when they see me"
and Murphy says to him "I didn't have time" and Walters tries to make
amends and says "I'm not your enemy, Captain. I'm just trying to do my
job". So, Murphy asks him "Have you eaten?" and Walters tells him "I've
already ate. I've gotta go downtown" and Murphy tells him "It's bad
for the digestion. Tomorrow, you'll have lunch with me, but I'm not
paying!". Then as Murphy goes to his car he sees someone leaning over
it with their back turned away from him and Murph says to himself "What
the fuck is this..." and he approaches the man and says "Hey, buddy you
alright?". And it turns out to be Travis, who spins around holds a gun
to his chest and says "Two fingers, Murph" and Murphy says "Jack, what
the fuck???" and Travis tells him "Get in the car. I'll tell you on the
way".
Delores Hall is the weak link in the cast however here as she
proves to be more annoying than anything else in a rather pointless role
as the Delores, a flirty female police officer, who takes a shine to
Roger as they are involved in chasing the armoured car near the start of
the film.
And Delores does have one scene, which I will mention which is when she
shows up at the station with some flowers and chocolates for Roger. So,
Roger hides behind his desk and Delores instead talks to Riggs and she
tells Riggs "You tell him Delores was here. You tell that man...that
he's the jam in my jellyroll. I'll see you, baby, okay. Bye-bye!".
And last of all we have the Murtaugh family quartet of Darlene Love, Traci Wolfe, Ebonie Smith and Damon Hines as
Trish, Rianne, Carrie and Nick Murtaugh. And together they all do
their respective parts well enough with Hines this time being given a
slightly more prominent role than before. And Hines share a good moment
with Danny Glover, where Roger and his son, Nick are in the bathroom
and Roger watches his son shave.
So, as Nick shaves, Roger tells Nick "Go with the grain, you're going
against the grain" i.e. Nick is shaving up his face rather than down
it. So, Roger shows what he means and he says to his son "Are you
okay?" and Nick says after a moment "Darryl was my friend, Dad" and
Roger says "I know. I'm sorry, son. I hope you don't blame me". Nick
then says to Roger, "I don't blame you, Dad....I blame Darryl" so Roger
then gives Nick a loving hug and Nick tells Roger he loves him and vice
versa.
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
Finally moving onto the director and music paragraphs, first up is the director, Richard Donner,
who is at the helm once more and by now he had become very comfortable
with directing the series and is very confident in his handling the
film's action sequences. Donner also paces the film out very well and
it never lags at any time and he also shows he is more than capable at
dealing with the more dramatic moments as well as the comedy.
As for the music, Michael Kamen once again provides the score and
its a pretty good one, which is along the same lines as what went
before with similar music cues that were used in the previous films.
So, overall, Kamen does a fine job and shows his aptitude for churning
out action movie scores of a good calibre. The soundtrack also features
performed by Sting "Its Probably Me" which was orchestrated by Kamen
and also features additional guitar and saxophone work by Eric Clapton and David Sanborn
respectively, who I should mention contributed to all the othe films and their contributions are as always excellent. As for the
song... well its OK, but its nothing special if you ask me.
FLAWS (Warning: this section may also contain spoilers!)
As for flaws... yes, Lethal Weapon 3 is not quite perfect.
And to kick off one of the problems I had with the film is its rather
bland and unoriginal plot of an ex-cop now turned gun runner and how the
cops go after him, i.e. corrupt cops. And police corruption is a very
commonly done plot in films, so its not much of a surprise that we would
get Lethal Weapon plot involving that one too.
Another problem I had was to do with the very idea of Riggs being stupid
enough to even want to go into an empty building to try and diffuse a
bomb of which he had no skill or ideas on how to even to do so! And had
he decided not to do then surely the bomb squad would have arrived and
safely deactivated the bomb themselves. Instead, Riggs wracks up a shit
load of damages for the city and if any employees were working in that
place, who were evacuated would now be out of a job thanks to Riggs!
Yeah, OK, I'm looking a bit deeper than necessary there with this one!
But it does highlight once again how Riggs can create chaos and mayhem
(all by himself even without Roger!) and get away with it (well
mostly!).
The film also has some pretty superfluous characters such as Delores, the
annoying female police officer, who takes a fancy to Roger as they are
in pursuit of the armoured car at the start of the film. Delores is
nothing more than a tedious romantic distraction that basically doesn't
go anywhere and we just get subjected to cringing moments instead such
as her singing and later kissing Roger and saying "OH, SUGAR!!"
afterwards. Bleeughhh. Basically the film could have done without her.
The character of the young rookie cop, Edwards (Jason Rainwater) also feels a bit superfluous to the
film as well, as he is just used so Riggs can be a dick to him early on
and tease him about his age, saying things such as "Hey, son, does your
mother know you're here?!". Then later on (SPOILER!!) the poor lad gets killed (on his birthday no less!) by Travis, who uses an armour
piercing round to finish him off, however Riggs tries to console him
before he dies and laments and says to him "Happy birthday, kid!". So,
basically the rookie is used basically for insults and then eventually
cannon fodder and that is more than enough to make him another unnecessary character (albeit a more sympathetic one).
And this highlights another issue with the film in that it has a far
more stronger emphasis this time on comedy than before, which starts to
see the two main leads threaten to become a parody of themselves. The
characters are however still mainly likeable (well OK, Riggs as I already said can be a twat at times!) and their banter is funny but there are times
where you think they could balance out the comedy and the drama a little
better than they did here.
And lastly there is of course, Travis, who it has to be said is a pretty
weak villain and he really isn't that menacing in the film and like the
other villains in the series, he really isn't that well fleshed out as a
character. So, when Travis ultimately will get his comeuppance you
don't really have any real feelings either way about him as he doesn't
really stand out strong enough as a villain in my opinion to do so.
Further to Travis, one things that didn't sit right with me is how were his credentials as a police officer were still valid with LAPD even though he had left the force?! It seems a just a bit convenient that would be the case and surely they would revoke this guy's clearance once he left his job but then again I know nothing about this sort of thing myself really. Nonetheless it seems a bit strange that Travis's ID would still work at the police station after being an ex-cop especially given his brutal track record in the job.
And as Columbo might say, just one more thing! Another issue I had with the plot was to do with the scene where Lorna tells Riggs, Murtaugh and Murphy that interrogation room video cameras were installed and it was done six months ago yet the guys knew nothing about them. Now this is surely an admin cock-up on behalf of internal affairs as you really think they should have let Murphy and his officers know about it well before this or better yet when they were actually installed! So, its either that or Murphy just isn't that inquisitive about these things but I'd put the onus on internal affairs for this one.
Anyway that's it for the flaws!
SUM UP
So, in summing it up, Lethal Weapon 3 is still a very entertaining entry in the series and its light hearted approach works well with the leads of Gibson and Glover once again providing plenty of laughs on screen. The casting of Rene Russo as Lorna Cole, Riggs's love interest also works pretty well and she has some good onscreen chemistry with Gibson and Joe Pesci makes a welcome return also as Leo Getz. Action wise, the film is also pretty good with the usual mix of gunfights, fist fights and the proverbial car chase sequences!
There are of course some issues with its overtly comedic tone at times and its very thin plot not to mention its pretty bland villain in Travis. However that all aside, this is still a very good entry in the series and its a pity that the final entry that would follow isn't as good.
So, I will give Lethal Weapon 3 a rating of...
8 out of 10
So, that's it for now and I will be back with another post again soon.
Till the next un its bye for now!
