Lethal Weapon 4

1998

★★★

Undeniably rough (not to mention racist), especially compared to what came before (hell, it’s not even half as good as LETHAL 3). Nevertheless, the embracement of a kind of bouncy, prime time ready absurdity keeps things light and fun and leads to weird stuff like the deranged dentist scene (which really needs to be seen to be believed) and Leo Getz getting to deliver a heartfelt monologue about his doomed childhood pet frog, Froggy (again, you gotta witness it to grasp just how goofy it is). The action still rules, even if they totally misuse Jet Li, and Gibson/Glover can never get enough of each other so, in turn, I can’t get enough of them. Why anyone thought there needed to be a show after this is baffling, as this last go-round is simply one long stretch of calamity and hijinks. Did the franchise deserve a better ending? Sure. But this certainly isn’t the atrocity many make it out to be.

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