I have this theory that ideas have a cycle of life that looks like a bell diagram. It's never so great at first, then brainstorming and editing milk it's potential to the fullest, yet there is a finite amount of potential to exploit so if the idea lives too long, it goes back to mediocrity. The LETHAL WEAPON franchise might be the most organic example of that. The first installment was very raw, but the series took momentum before the viewers' very eyes and grew both in popularity in public. LETHAL WEAPON 3 still has the raw charm of the first two, yet it has a decent storyline this time. Don't get me wrong, it still honors the series philosophy of being the most implausible film series ever, it just tells a slightly better story.
After royally fucking up and destroying a building because of Riggs' (Mel Gibson) ridiculous adrenaline addiction *, our two heroes are demoted and caught working the beat. It doesn't take time before they catch a big fish on the line and a pursuit on the highway leads to a mysterious intervention of Internal Affairs agent Lorna Cole (Rene Russo) and to the murder of their suspect inside the very walls of the station. So Riggs and Murtaugh (Danny Glover) are back on the grind and on the tail of a shameless arms dealer who sells automatic weapons to kids.
Even if it still features Leo Getz, Joe Pesci's insufferable, uselss character, LETHAL WEAPON 3 is still my favorite chapter of the franchise. It trimmed almost all the fat and bulked up a little bit. Maybe it's just my notorious appreciation ofcorrupt cop stories, I don't know, but I loved the paranoid cautionnary tale approach to the story and the ways it found to involve the characters. Murtaugh, in particular, feels guilty because he was forced to gun down one of his son's friend turned bad, who was shooting an Uzi at Riggs and him. I went over the spectacular chemistry between the two leads in previous reviews and it's more important than ever in LETHAL WEAPON 3, because not only Murtaugh is drowing in guilt, but Riggs feelings of powerlessness towards his friend's distress mixed with his rough, confrontational nature complicates the situation and gives place to amazing exchanges between Gibson and Glover. They reach peaks of emotion and complexity they never before did in the series.
Now coming with 3 times more mullet.
I still have a grudging relationship with the ridiculousness of the series' scope.While Stuart Wilson does an amazing job as bad guy Jack Travis **, his methods are so not subtle, it's hard to imagine how anyone could be oblivious to them. It started well, Travis fronts as a construction company, his background story is really cool, yet while he is well-rendered by Wilson, his behavior is erratic for a bad guy. He walks into a police station like it's a self-serving platform for his criminal entreprises, despite being under investigation from Internal Affairs for several years and let's just say he's not the most subtle guy. He's as high-profile of a criminal as there is. I mean there is a silver lining to it. It leads to the crazy, overblown action sequences the LETHAL WEAPON franchise is famous for and the third installment has several spectacular ones. It's just that when you flirt with great storytelling, the deliberate flaws look way bigger.
I liked LETHAL WEAPON 3 a lot and I am aware that part of my appreciation comes from familiarity. I built a relationship with the characters before going into it, but the actors also have a long-standing working relationship with each other and the film functions like a well-oiled machine. LETHAL WEAPON 3 is at the top of the bell diagram. It has the most potential this series can offer : great on-screen chemistry, humor, amazing stunts and a decent plot that has a social conscience while not being moralizing or not even obvious. I mean, it's still LETHAL WEAPON, it's a series that's flawed in its nature, but it's not going to get better than it did in this installment. If you're looking to spend a good time with a LETHAL WEAPON movie and some pop corn, pick this one.
* Sounds weird said like that, I know, but I'm not spoiling a cool/hilarious scene for this review's sake. No way. It's too good.
** I'm happy someone named Travis is the bad guy. It always been the good american, goodie-two-shoes name to me.