Lethal Weapon 3

Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) brings Riggs and Murtaugh back with Murtaugh eight days from retirement. They answer a bomb call and blow up the building. They are demoted and put back on patrol. Then they notice weapons going missing from the police store; a former officer is behind it, selling them to gangs on the street. The best new element is Lorna Cole, played by Rene Russo. She is an internal affairs investigator and Riggs's equal; their first scene is a contest comparing scars and it is the best introduction in the series. Joe Pesci returns and this time is inside the plot. The series' politics here are gun trafficking and armour piercing rounds, and the film addresses them directly. The section where Murtaugh has to face the death of a teenager is the heaviest scene in the series and sits in the middle of the comedy. Richard Donner directed; he made all four. A building was genuinely demolished in the opening; a structure already scheduled for demolition was used. The humour is heavier than in the second film and the action showier; the series became a formula from here. It was the biggest commercial success of the four. It runs 118 minutes. Good for: nineties action, buddy comedy, and police films. Less good for: the formula repeats, the plot is thin, and the violence is harsh.