Lethal Weapon 4

Riggs and Murtaugh are getting older and carrying more personal baggage as they patrol suburban streets and crowded spectacle alike. The partners face a new international threat when ruthless Chinese triads mobilize to recover their former leaders by slipping them into American custody under a cloud of legal maneuvering. With their usual bravado unsettled by family concerns and the weight of years, Riggs uses his reckless instincts while Murtaugh sticks to careful planning, trading quips and grit in equal measure. The case pulls in a larger cast, including Leo Getz and a new detective cornering the duo with bureaucratic traps. Amid car chases, explosions, and sharp dialogue, the duo clings to friendship and duty while the city swirls around them.

Released in 1998 and directed by Richard Donner, Lethal Weapon 4 sticks to the buddy cop setup with a screenplay by Channing Gibson, Shane Black, and Jonathan Lemkin. It's the fourth film in the series and uses an original script.

Overall box office tallies place Lethal Weapon 4 around 285.4 million worldwide, earned against a 140 million budget. It performed strongly in North America and abroad, helping to cement the franchise's lucrative return late in the 1990s for the studio.

By leaning into the late 90s mix of fast action and shaggy humor, the film helped keep the buddy cop formula popular through the era. Joe Pesci returns as Leo Getz alongside Chris Rock as Det. Lee Butters, creating memorable comic pairings and crowd-pleasing chaos.

Critics offered mixed responses, praising the cast energy and the balance of peril with punchlines while noting the plot relies on familiar genre beats. Themes of aging, loyalty, and the strain of family ties sit beside the movie's border-crossing crime plot, illustrating the toll of long partnerships across the film.