Hello, all!
There’s an awful lot to like about the original LETHAL WEAPON. After all, it spawned three sequels and a spin-off TV show. Much as I love the first installment, however, LETHAL WEAPON 2 is even better in part because the action is better, the characters are even more fully fleshed-out, the “buddy cop” formula really benefits from the fantastic chemistry between Mel Gibson’s Martin Riggs and Danny Glover’s Roger Murtaugh, and the stakes are higher. This might be a function of the same creative team being involved in making both films… and Shane Black deserves a shout-out here for his trademark snappy dialogue being on display [for example, in the spec script he wrote for the original, he described one opulent house as “The kind of house I’ll buy if this movie is a huge hit.”].
Happily, the original was a huge hit and gave audiences the chance to see Riggs and Murtaugh take on some new baddies, these guys being some shady folks from South Africa. You know the ones… they’re the kind that like to shoot people and then try to hide behind, you guessed it, dip-lo-mat-ic imm-u-ni-ty:
[Skip to 0:26 for the pop culture reference to this flick... and MC Hammer.]
Since the film benefits from the Riggs/Murtaugh dynamic already being established, there’s an added layer in the form of Riggs having a love interest. Given how distraught he is over his wife’s death, it feels like a worthwhile subplot… and, as it turns out, brings the plot full-circle with the film’s antagonists in a way that doesn’t feel forced. In fact, it kinda packs a punch… no pun intended.
Speaking of punches, though, this flick ups the ante with respect to its action set pieces. The toilet bomb scene is probably what sticks in a lot of folks’ memories when thinking about this flick, but the one that really made an impression on me when I first saw it was the almost Rube Goldberg-level process that results in the offing of one of the baddies with a surfboard.
Like so many of the films in this “series,” the first installment was really good in its own right, but this one manages to do even more stuff and better. If you’re a sucker for a good buddy cop flick [note that I said “good,” so THE OTHER GUYS doesn’t quite fit the bill], then this one is one that you should watch. Enjoy!
Other films recommended:
[Day 1 - THE DARK KNIGHT; Day 2 - DESPERADO; Day 3 - THE ROAD WARRIOR; Day 4 - X2: X-MEN UNITED; Day 5 - TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY; Day 6 - DAWN OF THE DEAD; Day 7 - DEADPOOL 2; Day 8 - HOT SHOTS! PART DEUX; Day 9 - STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN; Day 10 - THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS; Day 11 - CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER; Day 12 - ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES; Day 13 - PADDINGTON 2; Day 14 - RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET]
There’s an awful lot to like about the original LETHAL WEAPON. After all, it spawned three sequels and a spin-off TV show. Much as I love the first installment, however, LETHAL WEAPON 2 is even better in part because the action is better, the characters are even more fully fleshed-out, the “buddy cop” formula really benefits from the fantastic chemistry between Mel Gibson’s Martin Riggs and Danny Glover’s Roger Murtaugh, and the stakes are higher. This might be a function of the same creative team being involved in making both films… and Shane Black deserves a shout-out here for his trademark snappy dialogue being on display [for example, in the spec script he wrote for the original, he described one opulent house as “The kind of house I’ll buy if this movie is a huge hit.”].
Happily, the original was a huge hit and gave audiences the chance to see Riggs and Murtaugh take on some new baddies, these guys being some shady folks from South Africa. You know the ones… they’re the kind that like to shoot people and then try to hide behind, you guessed it, dip-lo-mat-ic imm-u-ni-ty:
[Skip to 0:26 for the pop culture reference to this flick... and MC Hammer.]
Since the film benefits from the Riggs/Murtaugh dynamic already being established, there’s an added layer in the form of Riggs having a love interest. Given how distraught he is over his wife’s death, it feels like a worthwhile subplot… and, as it turns out, brings the plot full-circle with the film’s antagonists in a way that doesn’t feel forced. In fact, it kinda packs a punch… no pun intended.
Speaking of punches, though, this flick ups the ante with respect to its action set pieces. The toilet bomb scene is probably what sticks in a lot of folks’ memories when thinking about this flick, but the one that really made an impression on me when I first saw it was the almost Rube Goldberg-level process that results in the offing of one of the baddies with a surfboard.
Like so many of the films in this “series,” the first installment was really good in its own right, but this one manages to do even more stuff and better. If you’re a sucker for a good buddy cop flick [note that I said “good,” so THE OTHER GUYS doesn’t quite fit the bill], then this one is one that you should watch. Enjoy!
Other films recommended:
[Day 1 - THE DARK KNIGHT; Day 2 - DESPERADO; Day 3 - THE ROAD WARRIOR; Day 4 - X2: X-MEN UNITED; Day 5 - TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY; Day 6 - DAWN OF THE DEAD; Day 7 - DEADPOOL 2; Day 8 - HOT SHOTS! PART DEUX; Day 9 - STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN; Day 10 - THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS; Day 11 - CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER; Day 12 - ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES; Day 13 - PADDINGTON 2; Day 14 - RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET]
