The fourth instalment in the action series is a slight improvement on the bloated Lethal Weapon 3, but there's still a "going through the motions" feel to it all. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover continue to bicker away amicably, Joe Pesci remains the butt of most of their jokes, while the pregnant Rene Russo is stuck largely on the sidelines. Stand-up comedian Chris Rock makes his first appearance in the franchise as a wisecracking cop, but the most notable new addition is Jet Li, the Hong Kong action star whose awesome fighting skills leave the rest of the cast looking rather old and ungainly. Otherwise it's business as usual, with director Richard Donner laying on the requisite destruction as Gibson and Glover track down a ruthless Triad gang that specialises in smuggling immigrants.

With personal crises and age weighing in on them, Riggs and Murtaugh must contend with deadly Chinese triads trying to free their former leaders from prison and onto American soil.