For nearly 35 years, movie audiences have been thrilled by the antics of Los Angeles Police Department Detectives Roger Murtaugh and Martin Riggs in the popular Lethal Weapon film series. Starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, with all four cinematic installments helmed by acclaimed filmmaker Richard Donner, the movies follow a grieving Riggs as he is paired with veteran detective Murtaugh to keep the City of Angels safe from violent crime. In addition to four films, with a planned fifth installment back in development, the franchise was adapted for television and ran for three seasons on Fox.
Here is the definitive rank of the first four films in the iconic buddy-cop franchise, averaging professional critics' scores between review aggregate sites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, from lowest-scoring to highest.
Lethal Weapon 4 - 45.5
The lowest rated Lethal Weapon film is 1998's Lethal Weapon 4, with Gibson, Glover and returning co-stars Rene Russo and Joe Pesci, joined by Jet Li and Chris Rock. The last Lethal Weapon movie for the past 23 years has Riggs and Murtaugh face the realities of growing older on the job and changes to their respective family lives as the Triads move into Los Angeles with a counterfeiting and human trafficking operation.
While critics praised Gibson and Glover's continued on-screen chemistry and the addition of Li to push the action in the film to another level, reviewers found the franchise's formula to be visibly stale. As the fourth film in the series, critics felt the stakes were relatively low for the characters, causing them to simply going through the motions. Movie audiences seemed to agree and, while the film was a commercial success, it also posted the lowest worldwide box office totals at $285.4 million.
Lethal Weapon 3 - 50
The highest-earning film in the series is 1992's Lethal Weapon 3, earning $321.7 million at the worldwide box office. However, the critics were less impressed, suggesting the sequel paled in comparison to its two immediate predecessors. The movie had Murtaugh and Riggs joined by an internal affairs investigator to face a dirty cop smuggling armor-piercing rounds to Los Angeles' criminal underground, putting the city in chaos.
By its third installment, the film series received criticism for being bloated and self-indulgent, though most of its cast's performances were praised as were its action set pieces. Critics, however, were divided on Pesci's return as Leo Getz, feeling the character brought unwanted comic relief and was largely superfluous to the film's overall story.
Lethal Weapon - 74
The film that started it all, 1987's Lethal Weapon brought Gibson stateside for his first major American role after starring in a trilogy of successful Mad Max films. Roger Murtaugh finds himself clashing with his new partner Martin Riggs before learning that Riggs recently lost his wife in a tragic accident. As the two partners learn to trust each other and Riggs learns how to live again, a sinister narcotics ring grows increasingly violent, with a body count rising steadily in the City of Angels.
Critics praised Lethal Weapon in not only reinvigorating the already well-worn buddy-cop genre but also redefining modern action movies. Gibson and Glover were catapulted into the public consciousness while screenwriter and creator Shane Black launched his filmmaking career, eventually going on to become an acclaimed director himself.
Lethal Weapon 2 - 76
Just edging out the original film in terms of critical praise is 1989's direct sequel Lethal Weapon 2, marking Black's last involvement with the film series. Now, firm friends and partners, Murtaugh and Riggs confront a vicious syndicate of South African drug smugglers protected by diplomatic immunity while Riggs discovers shocking secrets about his own past tragedy.
Perfectly paced and featuring even more explosive action sequences than its predecessor, Lethal Weapon 2 was lauded for upping the ante while deepening the character development for Murtaugh and Riggs. Audiences agreed, with Lethal Weapon 2 outperforming its predecessor by a considerable margin, earning $227.9 million at the worldwide box office.