Lethal Weapon 4

Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) is the last in the series, and the characters finally admit they have aged. Riggs's partner Lorna is pregnant, so is Murtaugh's daughter, and neither man wants to tell the other. At the same time they uncover people being smuggled by ship from China; a family is brought in to work off a debt and Murtaugh takes them into his house. The best new element is Jet Li. He is the series' first real martial arts opponent and the threat is physically credible for the first time; the two policemen are plainly outmatched. It was Jet Li's first Hollywood film and he plays the villain in it. Chris Rock joins the cast. The humour is at its highest here and the action at its lowest; the film moves close to family comedy. Age is addressed directly. Riggs struggles in fights now, Murtaugh talks about retiring, and in one scene they admit it outright. Richard Donner directed all four and this was the last. Shooting began before the script was finished; the studio fixed the summer release date and the text was written during production. It shows in how loose the plot is. A fifth film was discussed for years and never made; Donner died in 2021. It did well commercially. It runs 127 minutes. Good for: nineties action, followers of the series, and fight scenes. Less good for: the plot is thin, the humour swamps the action, and the earlier films are required.