This series is an anomaly among movie series in that it has altered its original course radically. What started out as something to do with a suicidal loner cop who was coaxed back to humanity with the help of his new, family-man partner has by now become an out-and-out comedy with just intermittent dramatic relief -- always a better bet for laughter than the intentional jokes. The hero's looniness, which in the first one was genuine and evolved in the second into a calculated shtick, like Lt. Columbo's fumbling absent-mindedness or Lord Peter Wimsey's twitty upper-classness, is here just a comedian's trademark, like Groucho's low-crouching lope or Ben Turpin's crossed eyes. One problem (among many) with this policy change is that at that end of his acting range Mel Gibson is on an even shorter leash than at the other end. But clearly any movie that can blow up a whole building in its opening scene, and thereafter show no curiosity as to who did it or why, is not too concerned with continuity. The customer who comes only to see the fireworks is of course not too concerned, either. With Danny Glover, Rene Russo, and Joe Pesci; directed by Richard Donner. (1992) — Duncan Shepherd
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