Capsule Film Review: Loaded Weapon 1 (1993)

1993 buddy cop comedy Loaded Weapon 1 is, as the name suggests, is a parody of 1987 buddy cop action film Lethal Weapon and its sequels. Characters of Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh have their alter egos in forms of erratic maniacal LAPD Sgt. Jack Colt (played by Emilio Estevez) and by-the-book Sgt. Wes Luger (played by Samuel L. Jackson). The plot, which involves protagonists’ attempt to avenge one LAPD detective’s death at the hands of powerful narco boss, is nothing more than excuse for series of jokes that try to parody not only Lethal Weapon series, but many other popular early 1990s Hollywood films like Silence of the Lambs or Basic Instinct. This approach, similar to Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker parodies, in most cases doesn’t work; jokes either fall flat or are completely incomprehensible to anyone not familiar to some of the more obscure chapters of Hollywood history.

RATING: 2/10