Lethal Weapon III (1992)

Well, at least they chose a direction. Not my first choice, but hey... the public and I don't really have many agreements anyway.

Exit all that was dark and gloomy, entrance all that is comic and slick. The opening scene leaves absolutely, positively no doubt about that. It's still great though, as it also establishes that Gibson and Glover continue to deliver as a duo.

The silly humor is a bit much, and more distracting than contributing. Speaking of which, Joe Pesci has taken it up a notch. And he was on too high in the first sequel. Now he's quite simply exceptionally annoying. It's all made worse by the fact that this movie has plenty of silliness as it is, due to the change in tone. All is not bad, though.

Stuart Wilson is finding his balance nicely in his role as main villain. Just enough over-the-top to fit the bill perfectly. Rene Russo however, is brilliant. If ever there was a nice match to Gibson's Riggs, this was it. Sassy, violent and with a dark sense of humor she provides a second set of double-team to this flick. Much needed. Russo and Gibson even deliver one of the coolest foreplays in years.

The opening set-piece is good, but then again, you can't really go wrong when you race really heavy trucks. A considerable minus for the gospel-driver though. Most daft. The next is more of a hit-and-miss as it's a bit too frantic and diverts attention at too many places at the same time. The ending is big, noisy and even a bit clever. Most entertaining with a fitting finish.

The side-story is also better than last time, Glover showing off in dramatic scenes and Gibson finally getting to be the mentally stronger partner as the former goes on a serious bend.

Furthermore they still have that utter disregard for Miranda and all that surrounds her. Which is both effective and (still) funny. I doubt breaking into bad guys' houses at night and threatening to run over their heads with their cars is kosher in modern society.

This is very far from the first installment. So far it's almost hard to believe they managed to change the concept this much in only 2 movies. It's still enjoyable though, only much, much less fulfilling an experience


6/10