Lethal Weapon 3 drags Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Murtaugh (Danny Glover) through the pre-riot landscape of Los Angeles for a third re-tread.
This time the duo have run out of ideas, material, and purpose, but in a desperate attempt to keep the tired franchise going, director Richard Donner reduces them to writing out tickets for jaywalking.
Unfazed by this demotion, the indestructible odd couple in blue uniforms leave their post at a parking meter and follow the trail of an ex-cop turned killer who disperses guns stolen from police storage facilities to drug dealers and street gangs.
Murtaugh, the family man, has only eight days to retirement and wants to play it safe. Riggs, the sexy troublemaker, is still collecting parking violations, trying to kick cigarettes, munching dog biscuits, and beating up half the city between wisecracks.
There’s a shootout on ice in the middle of a Lakers game and a romance with a fearless lady detective (Rene Russo) consummated in a mutual striptease that turns them both on by showing each other their bullet wounds and knife scars.
Lethal Weapon 3 substitutes violent encounters for plot and character development, but it never reaches the level of amiable destruction so clearly intended.
The mayhem just seems unnecessary and contrived. Considering L.A.’s carnival of real lawlessness, violence and mob madness, the fires, bombs and disorder no longer seem amusing.
Martin Riggs
Mel Gibson Roger Murtaugh
Danny Glover Leo Getz
Joe Pesci Lorna Cole
Rene Russo Jack Travis
Stuart Wilson Captain Murphy
Steve Kahan Trish Murtaugh
Darlene Love Rianne Murtaugh
Traci Wolfe Nick Murtaugh
Damon Hines Carrie Murtaugh
Ebonie Smith Tyrone
Gregory Millar Hatchett
Nick Chinlund Herman Walters
Alan Scarfe Delores
Delores Hall
