Loaded Weapon I «½
PG-13, 84m. 1993
Cast & Credits: Emilio Estevez (Jack Colt), Samuel L. Jackson (Wes Luger), Jon Lovitz (Becker), Tim Curry (Jigsaw), Frank McRae (Captain Doyle), Kathy Ireland (Destiny Demeanor), William Shatner (General Mortars). Screenplay by Don Holley and Gene Quintano. Directed by Gene Quintano.
Loaded Weapon I moves at such a snail’s pace at less than minutes, it is almost as if the audience waited for laughs. The film looked promising when Entertainment Tonight previewed the trailers in late 1992 although I really wish the studios would stop giving away the whole plot in two minutes.
I’m also sure the story looked great on paper especially after I read the credits from the film’s press release which listed many cameo appearances from F. Murray Abraham mocking Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs (1991) to Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox from the TV series, CHiPs (1977-1983).
Loaded Weapon I pokes fun at the Lethal Weapon (1987-1992) films and just about every crime thriller you can think of released in the past five years. I liked the idea. It was about time someone started making fun of the popular buddy series, which starred Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.
Director Gene Quintano, however, is no Jim Abrahams or Jerry Zucker (of Airplane! -1980 and The Naked Gun films) when it comes to comedy.
In what are obvious caricatures of Gibson’s and Glover’s characters from the Lethal Weapon movies, Loaded Weapon I features Emilio Estevez as Jack Colt; a stressed-out, trigger-happy cop on edge because his dog left him. He is teamed up with Detective Wes Luger (Samuel L. Jackson) to investigate a drug ring lead by General Mortars (William Shatner).
There are only a few genuinely humorous moments like the one where model/actress Kathy Ireland does a stint of Sharon Stone’s cross-legged interrogation sequence in Basic Instinct (1992). The shot poked fun at how the Motion Picture Association of America rates movies. If you remember the controversial fervor that film caused, you would understand why.
I also found the scene where Estevez, Jackson, and the supporting cast jam to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” mocking the opening moments of Wayne’s World (1992) memorable.
The picture, though, lacks enough quick, upbeat humor to carry it along. I found myself not remembering much after seeing it.
Most of the talented supporting cast is wasted. Former Saturday Night Live star Jon Lovitz does a boring send-up of Joe Pesci’s Leo Getz character in the Lethal Weapon series but he looks more like Pesci’s David Ferrie in JFK (1991), with a fake blond hair weave and heavy eyebrows to match.
Shatner, best known as Captain Kirk from the old Star Trek series and its six feature films, played a character with such an annoying Irish or German accent, I could barely understand what he was saying and that alone wasn’t funny.
Estevez and Jackson are the only two who, to some avail, salvage the film. Among Estevez’s unique acting qualities is his ability to be irritably edgy when his roles require it. It would not surprise me if he watched Gibson’s Martin Riggs’ character several times before shooting this film.
Jackson, whose first role was in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever (1991), proves he can give a magnetic performance whether it is in a compelling drama or a dull comedy. In a few years, I will not be surprised if he becomes one of the top African American actors next to Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes.
A couple warnings should be heeded before seeing a comedy like this. One is be wary of ads from the studio that say how great the film is from someone called “The number one film critic in America.”
The other is from the woman I noticed walking out of the theater after the first showing saying “That was one of the stupidest films I have ever seen!”
©2/18/93
PG-13, 84m. 1993
Cast & Credits: Emilio Estevez (Jack Colt), Samuel L. Jackson (Wes Luger), Jon Lovitz (Becker), Tim Curry (Jigsaw), Frank McRae (Captain Doyle), Kathy Ireland (Destiny Demeanor), William Shatner (General Mortars). Screenplay by Don Holley and Gene Quintano. Directed by Gene Quintano.
I’m also sure the story looked great on paper especially after I read the credits from the film’s press release which listed many cameo appearances from F. Murray Abraham mocking Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs (1991) to Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox from the TV series, CHiPs (1977-1983).
Loaded Weapon I pokes fun at the Lethal Weapon (1987-1992) films and just about every crime thriller you can think of released in the past five years. I liked the idea. It was about time someone started making fun of the popular buddy series, which starred Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.
Director Gene Quintano, however, is no Jim Abrahams or Jerry Zucker (of Airplane! -1980 and The Naked Gun films) when it comes to comedy.
In what are obvious caricatures of Gibson’s and Glover’s characters from the Lethal Weapon movies, Loaded Weapon I features Emilio Estevez as Jack Colt; a stressed-out, trigger-happy cop on edge because his dog left him. He is teamed up with Detective Wes Luger (Samuel L. Jackson) to investigate a drug ring lead by General Mortars (William Shatner).
There are only a few genuinely humorous moments like the one where model/actress Kathy Ireland does a stint of Sharon Stone’s cross-legged interrogation sequence in Basic Instinct (1992). The shot poked fun at how the Motion Picture Association of America rates movies. If you remember the controversial fervor that film caused, you would understand why.
I also found the scene where Estevez, Jackson, and the supporting cast jam to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” mocking the opening moments of Wayne’s World (1992) memorable.
The picture, though, lacks enough quick, upbeat humor to carry it along. I found myself not remembering much after seeing it.
Most of the talented supporting cast is wasted. Former Saturday Night Live star Jon Lovitz does a boring send-up of Joe Pesci’s Leo Getz character in the Lethal Weapon series but he looks more like Pesci’s David Ferrie in JFK (1991), with a fake blond hair weave and heavy eyebrows to match.
Shatner, best known as Captain Kirk from the old Star Trek series and its six feature films, played a character with such an annoying Irish or German accent, I could barely understand what he was saying and that alone wasn’t funny.
Estevez and Jackson are the only two who, to some avail, salvage the film. Among Estevez’s unique acting qualities is his ability to be irritably edgy when his roles require it. It would not surprise me if he watched Gibson’s Martin Riggs’ character several times before shooting this film.
Jackson, whose first role was in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever (1991), proves he can give a magnetic performance whether it is in a compelling drama or a dull comedy. In a few years, I will not be surprised if he becomes one of the top African American actors next to Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes.
A couple warnings should be heeded before seeing a comedy like this. One is be wary of ads from the studio that say how great the film is from someone called “The number one film critic in America.”
The other is from the woman I noticed walking out of the theater after the first showing saying “That was one of the stupidest films I have ever seen!”
©2/18/93
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