Mel Gibson

Boss Level (2021)

Boss Level (2021)

Director:

Joe Carnahan

Writers:

Chris Borey

Eddie Borey

Joe Carnahan

Starring:

Frank Grillo

Naomi Watts

Michelle Yeoh

Will Sassa

Mel Gibson

Blurb:

A retired Special Forces officer is trapped in a never-ending time loop on the day of his death.

Review:

Boss Level snuck in under my radar and I didn’t know it was even a thing until I was mindlessly scrolling through Hulu. It was a victim of COVID and despite costing $45 million ended up on Hulu and not in theaters. It was an entertaining action movie with the added bonus of the repeating day trope. Someone at Hulu seriously loves that trope and I am all about it. More, please!

Anyway, an incredibly dehydrated Frank Grillo does a great job portraying an ex-military man stuck in a loop where he dies every day. He has no idea what’s going on at first and spends the first 80 or so loops just fighting to survive before he tries to figure out what’s going on.

Surprisingly, Naomi Watts is also in this film. I was not expecting that, though, she isn’t in the movie a huge amount. She’s Grillo’s ex and the mother of his child. She also doesn’t seem to understand PTSD and just wants him to go back to being the man she loved before all the military killing and whatnot. It doesn’t go into his military background, much, so that’s just an assumption on my part.

Mel Gibson was a good bad guy, which makes sense considering who he is in real life.

The biggest surprise, for me, was Will Sasso being the heavy henchman. I’ve only ever seen him in comedic roles and while this wasn’t a super serious role it was definitely not a comic relief character.

Michelle Yeoh was in Boss Level as well. I’m so happy with her current popularity. She’s popping up in so many movies that I watch and enjoy. I will always love seeing her.

Boss Level was a nice break from my movie re-watch and I’m glad I checked it out.

3.5/5

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Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

lethal-weapon-4

Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

Director:

Richard Donner

Starring:

Mel Gibson

Danny Glover

Jet Li

Joe Pesci

Chris Rock

Plot:

With personal crises and age weighing in on them, LAPD officers Riggs and Murtaugh must contend with a deadly Chinese crimelord trying to get his brother out of prison.

Review:

Jet Li with a rat tail is not something anyone needed to see. It is nice to see Mel Gibson with his hair cut though.

Order wise I think I’d rank this one 3rd in order of what I like. It goes 1st, 3rd, 4th, 2nd for me. It would have been nice to have a fifth movie because the decline in quality was a lot less than other franchises.

Excellent car chase.

I liked the fact that Jet Li only lost because of bad luck, he was kicking ass and would have won if the movie hadn’t been about the other guys.

I loved the fact that all the side characters were played by the same actors throughout the series, that was awesome and never done.

Overall, it’s an excellent franchise. I don’t know if the TV show quiet lives up to it, but it’s one of the better adaptions out there.

3.5/5

Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)

lethal-weapon-3

Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)

Director:

Richard Donner

Starring:

Mel Gibson

Danny Glover

Joe Pesci

Plot:

Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh pursue an arms dealer who is a former LAPD officer.

Review:

This might be my favorite Lethal Weapon movie. Riggs and Murtaugh have their groove and the story isn’t bad. Stuff blows up. Mel Gibson in underwear. Riggs even has a good relationship with a woman. All in all it’s a good addition to the franchise and it doesn’t feel like things have gone off the rails.

Well…the intro is a little over the top, but come on it’s a 90s action movie.

4/5

Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

lethal-weapon-2

Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

Director:

Richard Donner

Starring:

Mel Gibson

Danny Glover

Joe Pesci

Plot:

Riggs and Murtaugh are on the trail of South African diplomats who are using their immunity to engage in criminal activities.

Review:

So this is a Lethal Weapon movie, but there’s nothing really awesome that happens in it. Somehow Riggs wife’s killer is tied it, which seems kind of contrived. I liked the fact that South Africans were the bad guys, I thought that was nice and different. I also liked the fact that all the side characters were played by the same actors. That’s pretty much all there is with this movie. Well, we did get Joe Pesci, but I’m not sure if that’s a positive or a negative.

3/5

Lethal Weapon (1987)

lethal-weapon

Lethal Weapon (1987)

Director:

Richard Donner

Starring:

Mel Gibson

Danny Glover

Gary Busey

Plot:

A veteran policeman, Murtaugh, is partnered with a younger, suicidal officer, Riggs. They both have one thing in common: hating working in pairs. Now they must learn to work with one another to stop a gang of drug smugglers.

Review:

It’s been a long time since I watched the Lethal Weapon movies and recently I’ve been watching the TV show which made me want to go back to the source material. Thankfully they’re all on Hulu.com right now so I don’t have to dig out my blurays.

Totally forgot that the movie starts out with boobs. Very 80s intro. Boobs, big hair, and sax.

Mel Gibson was pretty, also you see his butt, in case you were wondering.

Danny Glover has the titular line.

Like Die Hard this movie was set at Christmas time and it made me realize we’re lacking lately in Christmas action movies. Hollywood should get on that.

I like this movie, I like the franchise, so honestly my review isn’t going to dissect it like I sometime do with action movies. There’s gun, shit blows up, lots of cursing, and drugs. Honestly what more could you want?

4/5