Riggs visits Murtaugh in his boat. Murtaugh is full of guilt and scotch. Both have a poignant discussion that gradually turns into an argument when Murtaugh, six days from retirement, wished 'the accident' happened to anyone but him, Riggs understands Murtaugh's point and blames him for his selfishness. Not only he's selfish because he wishes the worst for his best friend, but he doesn't realize that his retirement would prevent Riggs from the only family he ever had. The two cops fight, end up in the water, and the scene is concluded by a hilarious punch-line. I won't spoil it but it easily is one of the top ten smartest quotes of the franchise, and when Riggs and Murtaugh laugh their ass out, we're with them at 100%.
After one hour, we finally have the the kind of scene that "Lethal Weapon 3" was desperately needing, with an intense level of human emotions, a ferocious energy that grabs your heart to the screen and give your faith back on the whole series. The moment I described is definitely in the same vein that the first and second film, but as whole "Lethal Weapon 3" is not in the same league than its glorious predecessors, two action films so great I still can't determine which one is better. It's a pity really because Riggs and Murtaugh are great cinematic characters and their relationship deserved a better story. It's also a pity because the opening scene involving a bomb to defuse, is smart, well-written, and funny, with the perfect conclusion.
But somewhere, the film failed to capture the charm and the originality of the series.. And I loved the boat scene precisely because it was one of the closest scenes that could provide an interesting antagonism between Riggs and Murtaugh, and it would have probably enriched the series in terms of character's development. The movie had many possibilities for Gibson and Glover, they could have been assigned new partners, there could have been a reason to suspend their friendship, I don't know, anyway, if they have to stay together, then something new and fresh had to come up from the script, and following the same standards of quality than the first two films. I guess this was the idea behind Rene Russo's character, an Internal Affairs sergeant who's as tough and aggressive as Riggs.
I never bought the seemingly chemistry growing between them, I didn't believe a woman like Lorna Cole would be a good match for the Riggs I knew. And even Riggs was sometimes played out of character, just to create a superficial complementary with Lorna Cole. Maybe I'm prejudiced but I never liked Russo in the film and it was the one that made me discover the series. At least, the romance in "Lethal Weapon 2" served a plot point and had a genuine quality but "Lethal Weapon 3" didn't make it as touching and appealing. The scene when they start comparing their scratches and scars had nothing of the heart-warming complicity between Riggs and Rika. Besides, what makes directors so sure that a woman using karate stuff is cool. I know it's a device that used to be popular 20 years ago, but if there is one thing you expect from "LW" is originality.
I have nothing against bad-ass female characters, but how about a real change, how about making a female bad-ass villain for instance? I'm saying this because that's another department where the film fails: a good villain, and this is probably the most unforgivable move. All right I can buy the whole malevolent scheme that consisted on arm-dealing, with a new generation of 'cop-killers' bullets that can pierce even bullet-proof vest, it's menacing, scary and proved to destroy young people, but all that for a real-estate swindling? Well, on its own, it's not that bad an idea, and it's still creepy to see a man drown in cement, but at the end of the film, I had an overdose of action sequences set in building sites. It provided very cheap-looking settings to the film and a frustrating one-note impression as if the writers really lacked imagination.
I know the film isn't supposed to reinvent the wheel, but when it doesn't feature archetypes, it's too silly to be believable. We know that the guys who screwed up the job will not get a second chance, and will probably get killed in the most cold-blooded way just to give an example of how vile and bad he is, you would wonder why they never take the next train to Miami and simply vanish instead of coming back 'as if nothing happened'. You'd also wonder, why would a cop made hide himself from cameras if he took the chance to show himself. Why would Riggs ask a rookie if he had protection if he knows that the bullets are cop-killers? Naturally, we all know what would happen to him, and when Lorna Cole is shot, she won't have the same fate than another female partner in the "Dirty Harry" series. We're always one step ahead of the characters.
"Lethal Weapon 3" seems to follow the usual pattern and cliché of action-packed films and the sad thing is that many of them were initiated by the series. Joe Pesci as Leo Getz played a comic relief with nothing much to do, except than being annoying. Riggs and Murtaugh's interactions save the day, but the way I see "Lethal Weapon 3", it features exactly what one would have feared from "Lethal Weapon 2", a sequel that doesn't bring anything new and where what is new isn't even exciting. It's just as if the team capitalized on the series' popularity and knew the film wouldn't fail. The legal minimum is here: it's good enough not to disappoint the hardcore fans, but not that ambitious to create something that could have been regarded as one of the best trilogies.
After one hour, we finally have the the kind of scene that "Lethal Weapon 3" was desperately needing, with an intense level of human emotions, a ferocious energy that grabs your heart to the screen and give your faith back on the whole series. The moment I described is definitely in the same vein that the first and second film, but as whole "Lethal Weapon 3" is not in the same league than its glorious predecessors, two action films so great I still can't determine which one is better. It's a pity really because Riggs and Murtaugh are great cinematic characters and their relationship deserved a better story. It's also a pity because the opening scene involving a bomb to defuse, is smart, well-written, and funny, with the perfect conclusion.
But somewhere, the film failed to capture the charm and the originality of the series.. And I loved the boat scene precisely because it was one of the closest scenes that could provide an interesting antagonism between Riggs and Murtaugh, and it would have probably enriched the series in terms of character's development. The movie had many possibilities for Gibson and Glover, they could have been assigned new partners, there could have been a reason to suspend their friendship, I don't know, anyway, if they have to stay together, then something new and fresh had to come up from the script, and following the same standards of quality than the first two films. I guess this was the idea behind Rene Russo's character, an Internal Affairs sergeant who's as tough and aggressive as Riggs.
I never bought the seemingly chemistry growing between them, I didn't believe a woman like Lorna Cole would be a good match for the Riggs I knew. And even Riggs was sometimes played out of character, just to create a superficial complementary with Lorna Cole. Maybe I'm prejudiced but I never liked Russo in the film and it was the one that made me discover the series. At least, the romance in "Lethal Weapon 2" served a plot point and had a genuine quality but "Lethal Weapon 3" didn't make it as touching and appealing. The scene when they start comparing their scratches and scars had nothing of the heart-warming complicity between Riggs and Rika. Besides, what makes directors so sure that a woman using karate stuff is cool. I know it's a device that used to be popular 20 years ago, but if there is one thing you expect from "LW" is originality.
I have nothing against bad-ass female characters, but how about a real change, how about making a female bad-ass villain for instance? I'm saying this because that's another department where the film fails: a good villain, and this is probably the most unforgivable move. All right I can buy the whole malevolent scheme that consisted on arm-dealing, with a new generation of 'cop-killers' bullets that can pierce even bullet-proof vest, it's menacing, scary and proved to destroy young people, but all that for a real-estate swindling? Well, on its own, it's not that bad an idea, and it's still creepy to see a man drown in cement, but at the end of the film, I had an overdose of action sequences set in building sites. It provided very cheap-looking settings to the film and a frustrating one-note impression as if the writers really lacked imagination.
I know the film isn't supposed to reinvent the wheel, but when it doesn't feature archetypes, it's too silly to be believable. We know that the guys who screwed up the job will not get a second chance, and will probably get killed in the most cold-blooded way just to give an example of how vile and bad he is, you would wonder why they never take the next train to Miami and simply vanish instead of coming back 'as if nothing happened'. You'd also wonder, why would a cop made hide himself from cameras if he took the chance to show himself. Why would Riggs ask a rookie if he had protection if he knows that the bullets are cop-killers? Naturally, we all know what would happen to him, and when Lorna Cole is shot, she won't have the same fate than another female partner in the "Dirty Harry" series. We're always one step ahead of the characters.
"Lethal Weapon 3" seems to follow the usual pattern and cliché of action-packed films and the sad thing is that many of them were initiated by the series. Joe Pesci as Leo Getz played a comic relief with nothing much to do, except than being annoying. Riggs and Murtaugh's interactions save the day, but the way I see "Lethal Weapon 3", it features exactly what one would have feared from "Lethal Weapon 2", a sequel that doesn't bring anything new and where what is new isn't even exciting. It's just as if the team capitalized on the series' popularity and knew the film wouldn't fail. The legal minimum is here: it's good enough not to disappoint the hardcore fans, but not that ambitious to create something that could have been regarded as one of the best trilogies.