Lethal Weapon 4 is a 1998 buddy cop/martial arts/action-comedy film directed by Richard Donner and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Chris Rock and Jet Li. It is the third and final sequel in the Lethal Weapon series of films.

Synopsis

In this installment of the Lethal Weapon series, Lorna Cole is pregnant with LAPD sergeant Martin Riggs' baby; they are not married, but both are thinking about it and have misgivings and fears. Police sergeant Roger Murtaugh's daughter Rianne is also pregnant and has secretly married Lee Butters (played by Chris Rock), a young detective who works at the same precinct as Murtaugh and Riggs, though she cannot tell her father because he does not want her to date any cops. Throughout the film, Butters seems to take an unusually friendly interest in Murtaugh, who fears Butters is romantically interested in him. Aware of this, Riggs uses it as a prank by heightening Murtaugh's fear about Butters, who in reality, is trying to get on his father-in-law's good side.

The opening scene is an unrelated sequence in which Riggs and Murtaugh confront a lunatic wearing a flame-retardant armored suit and wielding an assault rifle and a flamethrower. The unidentified man is destroying cars and shops along a city street. Aside from some comedic value and a reminder to the audience of Riggs' marksmanship skills, the scene mainly serves to show the two partners informing each other of Lorna's and Rianne's pregnancies. After this scene, a title card shifts the story to "almost nine months later."