{"id":9008,"date":"2024-11-24T10:34:20","date_gmt":"2024-11-24T15:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=9008"},"modified":"2024-11-24T10:34:20","modified_gmt":"2024-11-24T15:34:20","slug":"lethal-weapon-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/11\/24\/lethal-weapon-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Lethal Weapon 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Lethal Weapon 2<\/strong> (1989)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Action-Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 118 minutes*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, strong violence, brief nudity, sexual content, racial epithets)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Richard Donner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Jeffrey Boam\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Michael Kamen, Eric Clapton and Dave Sanborn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: July 7, 1989 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Joss Ackland, Derrick O’Connor, Patsy Kensit, Darlene Love, Traci Love, Steve Kahan, Mark Rolston, Jenette Goldstein, Dean Norris, Juney Smith, Nestor Serrano, Philip Suriano, Grand L. Bush, Tony Carreiro, Damon Hines, Ebonie Smith, Jack McGee, Mary Ellen Trainor.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $147.2M (US)\/$227.8M (World)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Body Count: 33<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0Lethal Weapon 2<\/strong> is one of those rare instances where the sequel is every bit as good as the original. The main reason it works so well is because it’s not simply a rehash of its predecessor. The makers bring something new to the table that significantly changes the dynamics and makes the formula seem fresh once again. That would be Joe Pesci (Goodfellas) as Leo Getz, a loud, obnoxious federal witness who’s about to spill his guts about the illegal activities of the movie’s bad guys. He\u2019s placed in the care of our stalwart heroes Sgt. Riggs (Gibson, Mad Max) and Sgt. Murtaugh (Gibson, The Color Purple) much to their annoyance. It\u2019s part of director Richard Donner\u2019s (The Goonies) attempt to lighten things up a bit by adding more humor to the mix. It\u2019s okay, he still piles on the violence, mayhem and destruction.<\/p>\n

\u00a0This time around, the bad guys are South African diplomats dealing in drugs and illegal shipments of gold\u00a0Krugerrands<\/em> (SA units of currency). The lead villains are consul-general Arjen Rudd (Ackland, The Hunt for Red October) and head of security Pieter Vorstedt (O\u2019Connor, Hope and Glory). Despite their involvement in illegal activities, Riggs and Murtaugh can\u2019t touch them due to diplomatic immunity. They can do whatever they want and law enforcement can\u2019t do a thing about it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It all starts when the partners confiscate a million dollars worth of Krugerrands<\/em> after a wild chase through the streets of L.A. Rudd responds by sending Vorstedt and his goons to Murtaugh\u2019s house to threaten his family if he doesn\u2019t back off. Their CO (Kahan, Predator 2) reassigns them to protect Getz until the feds arrive to place him in protective custody. It\u2019s hardly a dream assignment as Getz turns out to be the biggest pain in the ass on the planet. It turns out he\u2019s been laundering money for the very guys they\u2019re after. If they intend to bring down Rudd and his operation, they\u2019ll need to keep this annoying little twerp alive.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Did you really think Riggs and Murtaugh would obey orders and stay away from the case? Uh, did you see the first movie? Riggs begins a campaign of harassment against Rudd which causes him to retaliate by killing off detectives from their unit. He also initiates a romance with Rudd\u2019s secretary Rika (Kensit, Absolute Beginners) who openly admits to disliking her boss and her country\u2019s policy of apartheid. Naturally, Rudd and his guys can\u2019t stand that one of the cops investigating them is black. Furthermore, it appears Vorstedt has some prior connection with Riggs. I won’t say more than that, but if you’ve already seen this movie then you know what I’m talking about.<\/p>\n

\u00a0What’s interesting about Lethal Weapon 2<\/strong> is the change in Riggs’ character. He’s mellowed a bit since the first movie. Oh, he’s still wild and reckless, but he’s no longer suicidal or self-destructive. He even seems to be getting over his wife\u2019s death as evidenced by his relationship with Rika. She brings out a softer, tender side of the tough cop. What we\u2019re witnessing is his character evolving, something that most action movies wouldn\u2019t even bother with. Of course, his happiness will be short-lived; he\u2019ll be back on the crazy train by movie\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Once again, Gibson delivers a solid performance. He shows off his lighter side in his humorous banter with Murtaugh. Glover is also quite good. He too has a funny side. I’m particularly fond of the scene where he provides a hilarious distraction at the South African consulate so Riggs can infiltrate the place and harass Rudd in his office. It’s a classic moment that cracks me up every time. Of course, the show wouldn\u2019t be complete without his character saying \u201cI\u2019m too old for this s***\u201cat least once. The two leads\u2019 chemistry is as strong as ever. I should hope so. The friendship between the two partners is an integral part of any Lethal Weapon movie. None of them would work without it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The real comic relief comes from Pesci. Simply put, he’s a riot! There\u2019s a great scene where his character goes off on a rant about drive-through joints (\u201cThey f*** you at the drive-thru!\u201d) after getting the wrong order. He annoys the hell out of his protectors. Their scenes together resemble a Three Stooges short. Given Riggs’ fondness for the Stooges, I’m sure it’s completely intentional on Donner\u2019s part.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Ackland and O’Connor are perfectly reptilian as the racist bad guys who plan to smuggle their illegal earnings (about $1 billion worth) to Cape Town. These are truly despicable villains. You can\u2019t wait until Riggs and Murtaugh kick their asses all the way back to where they came from. That is, if they let them live which is highly unlikely with the word \u201clethal\u201d in the title.<\/p>\n

\u00a0As I mentioned earlier, the tone of Lethal Weapon 2 <\/strong>is a little more comedic. Donner makes sure we know this from the start by playing the first eight notes of the Looney Tunes theme when the studio logo appears. It\u2019s loony alright! After a title-only opening, we join the two cops right in the middle of a wild car chase. Murtaugh is driving his wife’s new car and won’t exceed 65MPH despite Riggs’ urging that he go faster. Other members of the LAPD join in. A helicopter appears at one point. It\u2019s like a live-action Road Runner cartoon. Naturally, the new car is almost completely destroyed by the time the chase ends. In another running gag, Murtaugh catches grief from his colleagues about a condom commercial starring his daughter, budding actress Rianne (Wolf). More than one character says the commercial makes him want to buy condoms. Just what every father wants to hear!<\/p>\n

\u00a0The action scenes in Lethal Weapon 2<\/strong> are even crazier. More property gets destroyed. The body count is higher. The kills are more creative too. One scumbag meets his demise via a surfboard through the head. Note that I said \u201cthrough\u201d and not \u201cover\u201d. Donner, working from a crack script by Jeffrey Boam (The Lost Boys), accomplishes something truly special with Lethal Weapon 2<\/strong>. It\u2019s not often a sequel is as great as its predecessor. For every Superman II, there are at least ten like Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Writer Boam successfully retains the fun spirit of the original. Once again, there’s a great song over the closing credits, “Cheer Down” by George Harrison. It has an additional sense of warmth with Riggs being more or less adopted by the Murtaughs. Donner\u2019s liberal politics are on display once again, this time in the form of its anti-apartheid message. There\u2019s also a scene in which Murtaugh\u2019s children urge him not to eat tuna because they kill the dolphins that get caught in the nets.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It all comes down to this. Lethal Weapon 2<\/strong> is a great movie! On top of being a totally bad ass action flick, it\u2019s also a political hot-button pusher. It manages to get the viewer angry about unfair racial practices in another part of the world. What\u2019s really great about it is that it as high a repeat watchability quotient as its predecessor. I never get tired of either. If I had to choose a favorite, I\u2019d definitely go with the first movie, but number two is a very, VERY close second.<\/p>\n

* = This RT refers to the Director\u2019s Cut. The original theatrical cut runs 114 minutes.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Action-Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 118 minutes*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, strong violence, brief nudity, sexual content, racial epithets)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Richard Donner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Jeffrey Boam\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Michael Kamen, Eric Clapton and Dave Sanborn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: July 7, 1989 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Joss Ackland, Derrick O’Connor, Patsy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kick-ass-actioners"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Lethal-Weapon-2-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9008"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9037,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9008\/revisions\/9037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}