Ok time to cover another Hollywood action film franchise and my next few posts will cover the Lethal Weapon films, which follows two unlikely cops who become buddies and this post will naturally cover the first film in the series. So let's give the first film a look....
So the story is set in 1987 in Los Angeles at around Christmas time and it starts with Sergeant Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) who is just reached his 50th birthday and is wary of his age and the prospect of getting older. Roger is called in to investigate the suicide of a prostitute, who turns out to be the daughter of an old friend of his, Michael Hunsaker (Tom Atkins) who he fought alongside in the Vietnam war. Meanwhile another LAPD police officer, Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) is in the middle of a drugs bust, however he nearly kills one of the disarmed suspects as he goes into a blind rage. Riggs as it turns out is suffering from depression as the result of his wife's death, which has left him suicidal. The next day Riggs is reassigned to homicide and partnered up with Murtaugh, who is very reluctant to take on Riggs. The two of them go to see Michael Hunsaker, and Roger reveals to Hunsaker that his daughter, Amanda, was in fact murdered as the pills she had taken were doctored and laced with window cleaner, so she would have died within minutes had she not jumped. Hunsaker tells Roger that she was also involved in making pornographic video tapes and drugs and he wants Roger to find out who was behind it and kill them.
Murtaugh however finds out first hand what a loose canon Riggs is when he goes up to try and talk down a man who is threatening to jump off a building, and instead handcuffs him and they jump off together onto a large inflatable catch. Murtaugh is furious with Riggs and taunts him to shoot himself with his gun, but stops short when he realises Riggs might actually do it. Afterwards they then go to question a pimp in connection to Amanada at a mansion, which turns out to be a drug lab, however the pimp open fires on them and Riggs ends up having to kill the pimp in self defence and he saves Murtaugh in the process, which leads Murtaugh to slowly gain respect for his new partner. The two of them later go and have dinner at Murtaugh's house, where Riggs meets Rog's wife and family (and finds out Roger's eldest daughter has a crush on Riggs!) and they also speculate on what was behind the case.
The next day they go to question the hooker that Roger spoke to earlier, Dixie in connection with Amanda, however as Dixie's house is blown up as they arrive. Riggs finds a piece of a mercury switch, which woud only be used by professionals, and as they question a young boy who witnessed a man lurking about the house, he spotted that he had the same tattoo as Riggs, which is a US Army special forces tattoo, with whom Riggs served with during Vietnam. Muratugh and Riggs then go and question Hunsaker, who admits to being involved in a drug operation run by mercaneries, who were all involved in special ops and that he was trying to get out the operation and that his daughter's death was ordered by the head of the operation, General McAllister (Ryan Mitchell). However before Hunsaker can reveal anymore on the operation to Roger, McAllister's chief enforcer, Mr Joshua (Gary Busey) shows up in a helicopter and shoots Hunsaker dead, and McAllister decides to turn up the heat on the two cops and kidnaps Roger's daughter, Rianne (Traci Wolfe).
Riggs and Murtaugh are given a meeting place with McAllister, Joshua and their men, however they are ambushed by Riggs, who provides cover far away with a sniper rifle, but he is eventually captured as is Murtaugh and Rianne who attempts to escape by car. As a result Murtaugh and Riggs are both tortured in order for the mercs to find out what they know, with Joshua administering electric shock treatment to Riggs, and McAllister having Murtaugh beaten. Riggs however manages to escape and he enters and kills McAllisters men and releases Muratugh and Rianne and they flee out onto the streets, where Riggs gives chase to Joshua and Murtaugh exacts his revenge on McAllister by killing him, but Joshua get's away. And its far from over as Riggs and Murtaugh have to try and hunt down Joshua in order to keep Roger's family safe....
If I had to pick the best of the four Lethal weapon films I would say that the original, this one, Lethal Weapon is still the best. As the series went on their was a larger emphasis on the comedic tone, but here the film keeps a good balance of comedy and drama and the film has a pretty intense feel throughout. And both the lead characters have a fair bit of emotional weight over their heads, with Murtaugh feeling his age having turned 50, being a family man realising he has more to lose as he get's older, and Riggs, who's has been driven half crazy with rage and sorrow over the loss of his wife, leaving him a near suicidal emotional wreck. But where Lethal Weapon succeeds is that it takes the cop buddy buddy formula and puts two very unlikely cops together and they end up being dependent on one another, with Murtaugh becoming something of a saviour for Riggs who is so burnt out and close to the edge. That's not to say that Lethal Weapon isn't funny as it still has plenty of humourous moments and Shane Black's witty script provides some funny lines, which I will get to soon.
And that brings me onto the performances section of the review and they are excellent, particularly the two leading actors, Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, who have a natural onscreen chemistry with one another. Starting with Mel Gibson who is great as Riggs, the near pyschotic cop who is on the ragged edge who is thrown into a reluctant partnership with Murtaugh, but they soon end up becoming friends. Gibson has quite a few highlights in the film such as in his first scene where he is involved in an undercover drugs bust and he convinces the dealers that he is interested in buying the drugs and they ask for "a hundred" and he starts to count out 100 dollars. And one of the dealers angrily tries to stop him and Riggs says "Shut up, man. I'm losing count" and as the dealer tells him he wants a hundred thousand dollards, Riggs says "Tell you what, why don't I take the whole stash off your hands for free and you assholes can go to jail!". And as they cal him crazy, he pulls out his gun and says "Now that is a real badge, I'm a real cop and this is a real fucking gun!". Also there is the scene where Riggs tries to talk down the would-be jumper off the roof of a building and as he handcuffs the jumper, the jumper defiantly tells him he will jump and Riggs grabs him and says "Do you wanna jump?! Do you wanna??! Because that is just fine with me, asshole! Let's do it!" and they do just that! Gibson also has some chilling moments in the film such as where Murtaugh taunts Riggs to put his gun under his chin and pull the trigger and he nearly does it, but Murtaugh stops him at the last second, and he says "You really are crazy!" and Riggs glares at him and says "I'm hungry. I'm gonna go and get something to eat!". Also there is the scene where he calmly tells Roger when Rianne has been kidnapped "You realise they are going to kill her. And the only way to get her back is to take her from them. We're gonna get bloody on this one, Roger!". But of course Gibson has some funny moments as well such as the scene where Riggs and Murtaugh go to the firing range and Murtaugh shows off his skill as he fires a perfect shot at a paper target right in the centre. And Riggs says "Step aside old man!" and fires six shots at the target from a distance and brings it closer to see that the bullet holes he's made are a smiley face and Riggs says "Have a nice day!". There is also the moment where Riggs holds a cup of coffee under Murtaugh's nose, the next day after their first day together, as Murtaugh slowly get't out of his bed and he says to Riggs "Give me that coffee and get out of here!" and Riggs springs off the bed! Also there is the line where Riggs having rescued Murtaugh and Rianne says "Let's do what one shepherd said to the other shepherd. Let's get the flock out of here!!". Gibson also handles the action scenes in the film really well as he does plenty of running, shooting and fighting throughout.
Danny Glover is also great in his role as Martaugh, the middle aged cop who is start to feel old and wary of being a cop and Glover provides a nice world weary cynicism yet deceny to Murtaugh's character. Glover also has his share of good scenes and some funny dialogue as well throughout, such an example is in a scene near the beginning where he speaks to the hooker, Dixie, and she says "I'm beat you know how it is" and Roger says "Yeah! All dressed up and no one to blow!". And of course Glover delivers the film's most famous well recognised line when Roger first clocks Riggs in the office take out a gun as Roger runs right at Riggs, who grabs him and throws him to the floor and puts his foot on his chest, and as Roger is introduced to Riggs as his new partner, Roger groans and says "Oh I'm too old for shit!". Glover also has some good dramatic moments as well especially his scene with the mercaneries in the desert where he meets with them to trade for his daughter and he takes out a grenade from his pocket and says "If she's gonna die, she's gonna die with me! My way! Not yours!". Later on when he get's beaten up by McAllister's men who pour rock salt onto his gunshot wound and he screams out "Go spit you son of a bitch! Fuck you!" and he also later as he chases McAllister on the streets of LA, he wearily says "General McAllister.... time for you to die!". Glover also naturally shares some good chemistry and moments with Gibson, such as the scene at the firing range where they fire their weapons and discuss the case. And in the scene as Roger says their theory for the case is "Pretty fuckin thin! Hell but thin's my middle name" Riggs replies "with your wife's cooking I'm not surprised!" and Roger replies "Remarks like that will not get you invited to Christmas dinner!". Also they have a great scene where Roger angrily confronts Riggs over his actions in jumping with the jumper off the building and he yells "OK! No bullshit, do you want to kill yourself??!! Shut up, yes or no, do you wanna die??!" and as he taunts Riggs to use his gun to shoot himself, Riggs puts his finger on the trigger but Roger stops him just at the last second and says "You ain't trying to draw no psycho pension. You really ARE crazy!". However later on after all they go through, they share a nice moment at the end where Riggs says "I let you in on a little secret. I'm not crazy" and Roger smiles and says "I know" and Riggs says "Oh good, lets eat!". And lastly I will mention Glover's scene where Roger makes a poor but funny attempt at rapping in front of his kids and he laughs to himself saying "I am awful!".
Gary Busey in his role as the main villain, Mr Joshua, is also excellent and he plays the creepy albino killer in quite an understated way (which is unusual for Busey!) and he makes for an effective villain. Busey has some good scenes such as his intro where Joshua displays his ability to deal with pain as McAllister uses a lighter to burn underneath Joshua's arm, which he takes with ease. And later on in the scene where he questions Riggs, prior to him being tortured by electric shock treatment and he refers to the Asian torturer, Endo (Al Leong) and says "You know Endo, has forgotten more about dispensing pain than you and I will ever know". And as he refuses to believe that Riggs knows nothing about McAllister's next heroin shipment he says "I wish I could believe you but unfortunately I don't! Now if you would kindly tell me everything you know then I promise I will kill you real quick!". And later when he turns up at Roger's house to kill his family he enters the house and shoots the TV and yells "Goddamn Christmas! I'll give you a home to come back to!" which leads into Joshua's final fight scene with Riggs.
Ryan Mitchell is also good in his role as General McAllister, the leader of the mercaneries who captures the cops and later is forced to flee from them. Mitchell has two main scenes, the first where he is introduced and he uses Mr Joshua to a prospective buyer and he threatens him by showing Joshua's ability to withstand pain and he says "No tricks, and if you try anything you will have to answer to Mr Joshua!". And later as he has Roger tortrured he walks over to Rianne, who is tied up and in her underwear and he says "That is one real good looking young woman you have there, Mr Murtaugh!" and as Roger warns him to leave her alone he says "Spare me, son. There are no more heroes left in the world!".
The rest of the supporting cast are also fine in their roles, such as Darlene Love as Trish, Roger's wife who is has a rather small role here but she sets up her character nicely for the future films. Steven Kahan is also pretty good as Captain Murphy, Rog and Riggs cynical superior officer and he shows little concern for Riggs's mental state and he says "Look! He just wants the cash. I've seen it a dozen times! And if he off's himself then we'll know I was wrong!" which he says to the police station's psychiatrist, Dr Stephanie Woods (Mary Ellen Trainor) who gives up and says "Asshole!" after he goes to the bathroom. And lastly Tom Atkins is also very good as Michael Hansaker, Roger's Vietnam buddy who turns to him for help as he tries to get out of the drug operation run by the mercs.
Finally getting onto the film's director, Richard Donner, who does a great job here and he carried on to direct the sequels and it would be hard to imagine another director carry the style, pace, action and humour that Donner brings to the series. The film is also notable for its stunts and action which are of course great and it also features a former stuntman, Dar Robinson, who died shortly after the film was completed, who pulled off one of the film's most difficult stunts as Riggs shoots a baddie who is up in a gantry and falls off and catches his leg in a chain, leaving the dead man dangling upside down. The film's music score is also excellent which was composed by Michael Kamen and it also features some good guitar work from Eric Clapton and also the distinctive saxophone from David Sanbourne, who plays part of Murtaugh's theme. Although it has to be said the film does feature a truly awful and cringeworthy theme song, by the Canadian rock band, Honeymoon Suite which is played over the end credits (who curiously went uncredited and I wonder why?!).
As for the flaws of the film???? Well Lethal Weapon isn't perfect but it hasn't got too many glaring problems, but perhaps the only problem is the story itself is pretty flimsy an unimaginitive with two cops who become buddies and fight against drug dealers, which is nothing new in itself. Also the baddies, despite the good performances from Busey and Mitchell, are a bit bland and one dimensional and while both actors play their parts with a decent amount of menace, their characters aren't that interesting, so when they cop it (no pun intended) who cares really. Some of the characters in the film are also a bit underused such as Captain Murphy, who would later be utilised better in the sequels, and Kahan himself is Donner's cousin, so perhaps he had a word with him about it! ;-) But I'm nitpicking so there isn't a great deal here to whinge about.
So that's it for my look at the first Lethal Weapon film which for me is still the best one and I will get back to y'all soon with Lethal Weapon 2.
Till the bye the now!
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