A former mafia member breaks down a key fight in Mel Gibson's Lethal Weapon4. Released in 1998, Lethal Weapon 4 is the fourth film in the action franchise that began with Lethal Weapon in 1987. The fourth installment features the return of LAPD officer Martin Riggs as he confronts Chinese mobsters this time. In addition to Gibson, Lethal Weapon 4 features a leading cast including Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Chris Rock, Jet Li, Steve Kahan, Kim Chan, Darlene Love, Traci Wolfe, and Eddy Ko.

In an Insider interview, former Sun Yee On triad mafia member Jimmy Tsui breaks down a key scene from Lethal Weapon 4.

Tsui analyzed a scene wherein Li's character acts as the martial arts expert and master negotiator for his mafia group. According to the former triad member, this was "funny" because it was unrealistic. After all, those roles are "two different things" in triad groups. He went on to explain that while some triad members learned basic martial arts to break into the nightclub scene, being an expert at both did not really exist. Check out the full quote from Tsui below:

"This funny. In real life, never gonna happen like this. In this movie, Jet Li is the triad negotiator expert. But he was martial art expert also. In the Hong Kong triad society, negotiator expert, yes that's a position for that. It's 425. White Paper Fan. But for negotiator expert and martial arts expert, that's two different things. Only 426, The General, they have a martial art expert. It's different.

Okay I can tell you the truth. In the 80s, or 70s to 80s and the beginning of 90s, the nightclub business going like crazy. A lot of new nightclubs opened. They did a lot of security. So at that time, yeah, a lot of triad members, they learned a little bit of kung fu. Because it's easier for them to get a job in the nightclub. That's true. This one I'll be rating a 6, for position like Jet Li, I don't think in real life there's this kind of person, doing both things."

How Did Lethal Weapon 4 Stand Up To Its Predecessors?

Looking at the reception of Lethal Weapon 4, it is not shocking that accuracy was not the movie's top priority. Lethal Weapon 4 is the lowest-rated film of the franchise, holding a 52% score on Rotten Tomatoes. This score represented a decrease from its immediate predecessor, Lethal Weapon 3, which had a 58% rating, and a more dramatic dropoff from 1989's Lethal Weapon 2, which boasts an 82% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Given its negative reviews, it is fairly unsurprising that Lethal Weapon 4 struggled with accuracy, as it struggled with other aspects of its story as well.

Furthermore, Lethal Weapon 4 did not have an excellent run at the box office. The third film was the highlight of the Lethal Weapon series financially, making $321.7 million worldwide on an estimated $35 million budget. Lethal Weapon 4 saw a dip in earnings to $285.4 million. While not a dramatic revenue decrease, the gap becomes more sizable when considering that the budget for the film was $140 million. Over-tripling the budget meant that Lethal Weapon 4 would have to do better than Lethal Weapon 3 to turn a large profit, which it unfortunately did not.

It is no surprise that Lethal Weapon 4's poor performance ostensibly ended the franchise. However, the path is not over for the Lethal Weapon films, as Lethal Weapon 5 is in development. Back in 2020, Gibson confirmed the sequel was in the works from original director Richard Donner. When Donner passed away the following year in 2021, Gibson took over the director role for the project. Lethal Weapon 5 does not yet have a release date, but its development by Gibson is confirmed, giving the series a shot at redemption.