Lethal Weapon 4

One of the few encouraging signs in an increasingly glum summer was the appearance of just one sequel in the release schedule. Lethal Weapon 4 argues for banishing them altogether. Whatever vitality this series might have had lies buried beneath crass gimmicks and astounding inanity. It takes Danny Glover's Sergeant Murtaugh only a matter of minutes to humiliate himself: he's tricked by Mel Gibson's thuddingly unamusing Sergeant Riggs into stripping down to his skivvies and screaming like a chicken in the asinine opening action sequence, which sets the stage for a series of sourly homophobic gags.

The new bad guys are Chinese mobsters (how many Chinese-food jokes are you up for?) involved in slavery and forgery and headed by charismatic but misused Hong Kong martial-arts star Jet Li. Another new face is Chris Rock as Officer Lee Butters, whose uprightness is belied by jive talking that's the only bright spot in the film. Back again is Joe Pesci, more high-pitched, irrelevant and annoying than ever, and Rene Russo, who's pregnant and eats a lot. The story inexplicably takes more than two hours to relate; not only are they getting too old for this shit, as Danny Glover's Sergeant Roger Murtaugh complains, this shit is just getting too old. At the Harbour Mall, Opera House, Showcase, Tri-Boro, and Woonsocket cinemas.

-- Peter Keough