One would think that after three films, Mel Gibson and his team couldn't come up with another high quality action movie. Well, I think that Lethal Weapon 4 is great. Obviously, one does not expect an academy award winning drama. I was in search of an action film that would leave me feeling like I had seen an action film. In the last two years, there has been CRAP! Breakdown and "The Big Hit" were the only decent action film in the last two years. So, I was hoping that this would be a good action film, where the action pieces must be excellent and the pacing of the film mustn't be too slow. This movie got the mix almost completely correct. The action sequences are excellent, and there's some top martial arts sequences. There's something I love about watching Martial Arts on film, and I was surprised that a non-Hong Kong director could put some of those scenes to film so well (though not as artfully as some HK directors). But Lethal Weapon offered more than just a few martial arts scenes. The actors seem to have a natural cohesion with each other (Mel Gibson/Danny Glover/Rene Russo) which has obviously come about from working on previous films. The previous films have also meant that there is already an identification and sympathy with the characters, which helps the audience become more involved in the action. Chris Rock makes an excellent addition to the franchise, and the scenes between him and Danny Glover are among the funniest in the film.

The ludicrity of some of the action pieces is really welcome in the film, and of course provide comedy ontop of the comedy inducing banter between the various characters. Some of the 'emotional' scenes fall flat though, and there's the bit at the end where Joe Pesci does a little speech that seems a little out of place (I must have missed the significance... I stand to be corrected on relevancy). The worst thing about those 'drama' scenes are the music accompaniment. How could they possibly have got it so wrong. When Danny Glover and Mel Gibson have a heart to heart, the music is unbelievably out of place... more akin to one of those slow mo love scenes (the saxaphone them doesn't help either). However, I become very picky at something some people will not even notice, and in the end, this film is about action, and delivers very well on that front. THat they've kept the Lethal Weapon franchise alive and fresh is credit to Mr Gibson and the director as well. Warner Bros. stuffed up with Batman, but Lethal Weapon proves that sequels can be more popular and just as enjoyable as the previous films.

75/100