Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)

A fun, play it straight, cop action film
This is the first Lethal Weapon movie I've seen, and I must say I was thoroughly entertained. Though it might have been a disappointment to some fans in the series, I found it refreshing to see this one first, why? Because I think I can judge it better as a stand alone movie this way.

In Lethal Weapon 3, Mel Gibson and Danny Glover once again play as a mismatched crime fighting team Martin Riggs and Roger Murtagh. Riggs is an implusive young man who enjoys being in the thick of things,he also puts together insane plans to defeate the badguys within the span of two seconds. Murtagh is a slower moving family man who enjoys sitting back and having a nice cup 'o' coffee. This time around they have to fight a former police officer gone bad, Jack Travis, who stores up illegal weapons, and sells them to the highest bidder. Murtagh and Riggs have to hunt down and find the main before he can let out an almost discontinued gun, an extremely dangerous, armor piercing weapon that has apparently gotten into the hands of teens on the streets.

Though not great, the films acting works, and is able to support the emotional developements of it's characters. The music was fun, but not quite fantastic. The action sequences were highly entertaining, suspenseful? No, but entertaining none the less.

Mel Gibson,Danny Glover,Joe Pesci,and Rene Russo (3.5/5)
Mel Gibson and Danny Glover are back in action again,as Riggs and
Murtaugh,two L.A. cops who were first introduced in the first Lethal
Weapon movie.Joe Pesci returns as smart alec Leo Getz,though his role
is smaller in this movie.However Rene Russo joins the gang this time
around.as for the movie itself,i liked it as much as the second
one.there's an exciting chase scene,some great fight scenes,and the
movie is funnier than the first two.Not only do Gibson and Glover have
their back and forth banter,but so do Gibson and Russo.they have great
chemistry together and really work well of each other.the only thing i
didn't like that much about this installment was that the story was
pretty standard for the genre,and the bad guys were your typical
generic,run of the mill crooks.but the performances,the comedy and the
chemistry of the actors make up for that.for me,Lethal Weapon 3 is a
3.5/5

The Charm's Still There, But It's Rather Weak This Time Around
Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) and Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) are still together, but Murtaugh is supposed to retire in eight days. As Murtaugh always says he's just "getting too old for this s**t." However, he loves his job and has no idea what he's going to do when he retires. Meanwhile he and Riggs become involved in a case involving a massive arms dealer. They are pulled from the case after internal affairs takes over, but through the help of Leo Getz (Joe Pesci) get a lead that internal had no knowledge of. It turns out that an ex-cop turned crook, Jack Travis (Stuart Wilson) is smuggling confiscated police weapons and selling them on the streets. Riggs and Murtaugh join forces with the chief internal affairs officer on the case, Lorna Cole (Rene Russo) to catch Travis in action and bring his illegal dealings to a close. Murtaugh takes the case very personally when he ends up killing one of the friends of his son, Nick (Damon Hines) in a shootout. Meanwhile, romance blossoms between Lorna and Riggs.

LETHAL WEAPON 3 is the weakest of the movies in the LETHAL WEAPON series. The plot attempts to have a subtle message about the evils of guns in the hands of normal citizens, but being an action movie, the message tends to take the focus off of the real point of the movie, the relationship between Murtaugh and Riggs. They've gone through a lot together and as Murtaugh prepares for retirement, their friendship becomes even deeper. The film seems lacking in action. Of course, it opens with the destruction of a huge building and ends in a coda after the credits with the same thing. Sandwiched in between are some action sequences, but the emotional instability tarnishes just about everything in the film and makes the action sequences seem rather low key.

Gibson and Glover are in top form and Joe Pesci steals most of the scenes he appears in again. Rene Russo is a nice addition to the cast, allowing Lorna to bring some balance to the usually insane Riggs. I also enjoyed the fact that Capt. Ed Murphy (Steve Kahan) had a larger role than usual. Overall, the film is basically an average action picture, but the chemistry between the two protagonists augments the movie a notch or two. Recommended for fans of the series or any fans of any of the stars.