Lethal Weapon 4 is the franchise's most bloated and most affectionate entry, a film that is simultaneously too long, too crowded, and too comfortable, and that is redeemed by the warmth of its central relationships, the extraordinary physical presence of Jet Li's villain, and the sense that everyone involved is genuinely fond of the characters and the world they have spent four films inhabiting. Richard Donner's 1998 conclusion is not a great film, and it is not a particularly good one by the standards of the series' finest entries. But it is a film of real affection and entertainment, a farewell that gives its characters the domestic resolution they have earned and delivers its action sequences with enough visual invention to make the experience consistently enjoyable if never truly exciting.
At a Glance
Director: Richard Donner
Runtime: 127 minutes
Starring: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Jet Li, Chris Rock
Release: 1998
Critics Rating: ★★ (2/5 stars, bloated but affectionate)
Audience Rating: ★★★ (3/5 stars, a fond farewell)
Review Breakdown
Plot
Riggs and Murtaugh, now both facing impending fatherhood, investigate a Chinese immigrant smuggling operation run by a Triad enforcer named Wah Sing Ku. The plot is the franchise's most structurally confused, a narrative of adequate complexity overwhelmed by the number of characters and subplots competing for screen time. The Chinese immigrant storyline is handled with enough intelligence to give the film a human concern beyond its action mechanics. The domestic subplots are handled with a lightness and wit that makes them the picture's most purely enjoyable passages, though their cumulative weight gives the film a bloat and diffuseness that its 127-minute runtime cannot entirely justify.
Characters
Riggs and Murtaugh's partnership is given its most explicitly valedictory treatment here, a relationship that the film acknowledges has reached a natural conclusion and that it resolves with a domestic completeness that gives both characters the endings they have earned. Gibson and Glover play the established dynamic with a warmth and naturalism that makes the valedictory register feel earned. Jet Li's Wah Sing Ku is the franchise's most physically extraordinary villain, a martial artist of such complete and terrifying capability that his action sequences are the picture's most exciting passages. Li plays the character with a stillness and menace that makes Wah Sing Ku the series' most physically intimidating villain. Chris Rock's Lee Butters is the film's most divisive addition, a character of considerable comic energy whose integration into the franchise's established dynamic is handled with adequate competence but without the organic naturalness of Leo Getz's introduction. Pesci's Leo Getz is given his most reduced role, a presence of comic energy and diminishing narrative function.
Tone
Donner pitches the film at the franchise's most overtly comedic register, a decision that suits the valedictory ambitions of this entry but that occasionally overwhelms the more seriously intended elements. The picture is at its most enjoyable in its domestic sequences, where the characters' relationships are most directly expressed and the franchise's affection for its people is most clearly demonstrated.
Meaning / Themes
At its core, the film is about the completion of the journey that the franchise began in 1987, the transformation of a suicidal loner and a cautious family man into two men who have found in each other and in their extended family the connections that give their lives meaning. This is handled with enough warmth and conviction to make the franchise's conclusion feel satisfying despite the more limited elements that surround it.
Direction
Donner's direction is the franchise's most relaxed and most affectionate, a work of professional competence and fondness for the characters. The action sequences are the franchise's most visually inventive since Lethal Weapon 2, primarily because of Li's extraordinary physical capabilities. Michael Kamen's score is as reliable and familiar as ever, providing a warmth and continuity that suits the valedictory register.
Cultural Reception
Lethal Weapon 4 received a mixed critical response on its release, with most reviewers acknowledging the warmth of the central relationships and Li's extraordinary villain performance while identifying the film's bloat and structural confusion as its central limitations. Commercial performance was strong, confirming the franchise's continued box office viability. It is now most frequently discussed as a fond if dramatically limited farewell, notable primarily for Li's action sequences and the warmth of the central relationships' conclusion.
Who Should Watch
Lethal Weapon fans will find it essential viewing as the franchise's conclusion, approached with affection rather than critical rigour. Li's action sequences are worth seeing in any context. Those who are not committed franchise fans should watch the first two films instead.
Final Verdict: A bloated but affectionate farewell that gives its characters the domestic resolution they have earned and delivers its action sequences with enough visual invention to make the experience consistently enjoyable. Li's Wah Sing Ku is the franchise's most physically extraordinary villain, the central relationships are given a warmth and completeness that makes the conclusion feel satisfying, and Donner's direction has a fondness for the characters that gives the film a charm its more limited dramatic elements cannot undermine.
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