Lethal Weapon 3 (Revisited) "Grab the cat!"

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Lethal Weapon 2 (Revisited) "The fu** you at the drive-thru!"

Right, well I've revisited the original Lethal Weapon post I did, so I figured...why not do all of them again???  Yes, as I recently purchased the Lethal Weapon Collection on Blu-ray and watched it, I figured its as good a time as any to re-write all four of the posts for each film.

So, without further ado, let's take a look at the sequel to the original Lethal Weapon and see how it stacks up today...

And yeah the usual warning is coming up....

SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

So the story is set a year after the events of the first film and starts with Murtaugh (Glover) and Riggs (Gibson) chasing unidentified suspects who it turns out are transporting illegal shipments of gold krugerrands.  The South African government then has its local counsul-general Arjen Rudd (Joss Ackland) and his security agent, Pieter Vorstedt (Derek O'Connor) warn Riggs and Murtaugh off the case, which they do by invading Mutaugh's house and tying up him and his wife and warn him to back off.

The next day Murtaugh and Riggs are reassigned by their superior officer, Captain McCluskey (Steven Kahan) to look after a federal state witness, Leo Getz (Joe Pesci).  On arriving at Leo's hotel room, one of Rudd's associates is sent to kill Leo, who is saved by Riggs as they dive out the window together into a swimming pool below, but the associate flees and Leo reveals that he formerly was a money launderer for smugglers.

Together with Leo's help, Riggs and Murtaugh track the South Africans to a large stilt house, where Riggs gives chase to the associate who made an attempt on Leo's life and the associate is killed during the pursuit.  After this Riggs and Murtaugh turn up at the South African consulate with backup, however Rudd confronts them and tells them that he has diplomatic immunity and therefore can't be prosecuted, so Riggs and Murtaugh and the others leave, not before Riggs bumps into Rudd's attractive secretary, Rika van den Haas (Patsy Kensit) who is a libreral Afrikkan who disapproves of her boss.

Back at the police department, McCluskey tells Riggs and Murtaugh to back off on Rudd, given his diplomatic immunity.  However this only inspires Riggs to harrass Rudd even more publicly as he follows him around and even confronts him back at the consulate headquarters.  At this time the South Africans start to put more heat on the cops as they rig Murtaugh's toilet seat with explosives, which leaves him on the can all night and in the end Riggs saves Murtaugh's life by calling in the bomb squad and helping him off the seat into a bomb resistant bath tub.

Riggs later meets up with Rika again and the two of them go back to Riggs's place and get more acquainted and end up having sex.  Roger meanwhile is stuck with looking after Leo and follows up on lead from which Riggs found a piece of paper in Rudd's office, which says "Alba Varden, Thursday".  Roger returns to his home (from which he has evacuated his family due to the South African threats) and searches through his video collection to find that the Alba Varden (which he seems to remember seeing somewhere) is in fact the name of a freighter.  At this point one of the Rudd's men makes an attempt on Roger's life, however Roger manages to kill the man and escape only to find the South Africans have taken Leo.

In the meantime, Rudd has declared war on the police and has his men kill some of Riggs and Murtaugh's fellow police officers.  Rudd also has his men ambush Riggs's trailer, however Riggs manages to kill them and escapes with Rika, as he drops her off at her place, he is knocked out by Pieter.  Pieter later tells Riggs, who he has chained up in a straight jacket, that he was the one that was responsible for his wife's death, as there was a contract put out on Riggs's life, as they sabotaged his car but instead his wife was driving that night instead.  Pieter then has his men throws Riggs into the water, however Riggs manages to escape, given his talent to dislocate his shoulder whenever he needs, but he soon finds Rika drowned underwater.

Riggs in a rage kills Pieter's men and heads after Pieter, calling Roger he tells him he's going to go after Rudd and Murtaugh soon joins him.  Riggs and Murtaugh then rescue Leo from Rudd's men, who have him held at the stilt house and Riggs destroys the stilt house, using his truck and cables which he attaches to one of the stilts however Pieter escapes.  And from here Riggs and Murtaugh head off to find Rudd and Pieter and put an end to their schemes once and for all.....

THOUGHTS  

As a sequel, Lethal Weapon 2 is a very enjoyable one, which does see a more comedic tone present itself than what we had before in the original.  Shane Black himself had made the script more harsh and violent in tone as it originally was supposed to end with Riggs being brutally tortured and killed, however after his draft was re-written he chose to leave the series and the screenwriting duties were taken over by Jeffrey Boam (who wrote the screenplay for Indian Jones and the Last Crusade also released that year).

However film still manages to largely keep its feet on the ground and we also get a bit of back story over the events of how Riggs's wife died.  The film also dealt with the timely issues of Apartheid government in South Africa, as at that time of course the country was in great political turmoil and that is mirrrored here in the film as Rudd and his men are harrassed by the police and the public given they are against the South African government's politics and racial segregation.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and strong language!) 

Getting to the performances they are all pretty good as we have the regulars all give a strong account of themselves and it features some solid supporting actors.

Starting with Mel Gibson who is great once again as Riggs and he adds a lighter dimension to his character than before as Riggs is now on a more even keel as he has a solid friendship with Murtaugh and his character has become more a joker although we still get shades of Riggs's sadness over his wife's death as he reveals the circumstances of her death early on in the film.

And naturally Mel has his share of good scenes that include the one where Riggs tells Roger's wife, Trish about the story behind a gold pen she had found in the wash as she does Riggs's laundry.  So, Riggs tells Trish "I guess she waited in the restaurant for an hour before she decided to drive home alone. It was midnight before I got home, I got home to a ringing phone, so naturally I answered it. They told me she was killed in a car crash".

Riggs then after a moment, continues "I should have been driving, I guess we would have been all right, huh. Anyway I remember falling down on my knees and I started shaking all over and I remember thinking I'm losing it, I'm losing it. So there I was lying on the living room floor. Lying there and I'm seeing under the couch and I see this gold pen. Gold pen just lying under the couch, I've been looking, haven't seen it in two months, there it is".

So, Riggs then tells Trish "She wasn't much of a housekeeper. And this voice goes off inside my head, kind a like a drill instructor, I really heard it. It said GET UP NOW!! I didn't feel like it but I got up, muscles were still working and I drove to the hospital and identified her in the morgue and signed her out with my gold pen".  And at this point, Roger has walked in at the end of Riggs's story and he says to Riggs "Gold pen.  Hey, Trish found one in the laundry the other day" and Riggs and Trish share a look.   

Gibson also get's some glib one liners as well from Boam's script such as when Riggs and Murtaugh first turn up to babysit Leo at his hotel room, and they knock the door and Riggs says "Police open up!".  So, Leo then asks how does he know its the police and Riggs replies "When I shoot you through the door you can examine the bullet.  Open up!".      

Another good scene Gibson has is with Glover where Riggs stays behind to help Murtaugh off his toilet, which is rigged with an explosive and the two of them joke about why didn't they put the bomb in Roger's wife's stove and Riggs says "Yeah think of all the needless suffering that could have ended right then and there!" (as Rog's wife is a terrible cook!).  And Roger says to Riggs "I'm gonna die on the toilet, aren't I?" and Riggs smiles and says "Guys like you don't die on toilets.  Anywhere I'm here and I'm not planning on going just yet".

And the two of them grab hands and Riggs positions himself in the tub to get ready to pull Roger off the seat.  And Roger shares a moment with Riggs where he stops short of saying he loves him and Riggs says "I know, I know...." and Roger emotionally says "I mean it, man!" and Riggs says "I hear you....you're not gonna fuckin die, you're gonna be fine!".  So, then they say together "One....two...." and Riggs pulls Roger right off the toilet seat as they shout "THREE!!" and we see the toilet seat blasted out of the window onto a car below! 

Then there is the scene where Riggs turns up at Rudd's office and he pulls his gun on him and his men and says "Don't bother to call the police, I'm already here!".  And as Rudd's men try and eject Riggs from the office, he head butts one and kicks another in the stomach.  So then he points his gun at Rudd and says "I'll make a deal with your, Arjen, or whatever the fuck your name is.  You fold up your tents and get the fuck out of my country, and I won't do anything to you, I'll leave you alone.  Because if you stick around here I'm gonna fuck your ass!  I'm gonna send you home with your balls in a sling, you got that?!".  This prompts Riggs to cock his gun and he points it with an intense glare and says "eanie....meanie....minie..." as he points it at different men and then he says "hey mo!" and shoots Rudd's goldfish tank, which causes water to gush out onto the floor.  And Riggs grins and gives Rudd a Hitler-esque salute "Big smile!  Big smile!" before he walks out.    

Another good scene is where Riggs meets Rika at the grocery store and he flirts with her and tells "Hey come back to my place, I'll cook you dinner, I've got a niceview of the beach.  I'm a gourmet cook, come on!" and as Rika says no, he continues to charm her and says "Come on, be original!  Say yes, everyone else says no!".  Then as Rika still says no, Riggs says "Well, I'll embarass you in public you'll turn bright red like that apple" so he then empties the contents of Rika's shopping cart all over the floor and he says "Lady let go off my bag, somebody call a cop!" before they leave together.

Gibson however also some good dramatic moments as well such as the scene (SPOILER!!!) where he finds Rika has been drowned underwater and he takes her body up to the surface and after he kills Pieter's men, he sorrowfully carries her in his arms, as he walks in circles.  This is then followed by his phone call to Roger where he expresses his desire for revenge and says "I'm not a cop tonight, Rog, this is personal!  I'm gonna get those bastards, Rog, I'm gonna get em and fuck em!  You don't undertstand, Rog, they killed them both, Rika and Vicki!".

And lastly the film ends on a lighter note where after all the fighting is done, and Riggs lies on the floor with a few bullet wounds in his body and he is comforted by Roger.  And he weakly says to Rog "I want you to reach into my pocket" and Rog takes out his cigarettes and Riggs says "I want you to throw away those things, they'll kill you, really!" and Roger starts laughing and says "You son of a bitch!  I thought you were dying in my arms!".  And Riggs smiles and says "If I'm not dying in your toilet then I'm not dying in your arms!" and he also tells Roger "Has anyone every told you, you really are a beautiful man!" and the two of the share a laugh together before the other cops show up at the very end.  

Danny Glover is also great again as Roger Murtaugh, Riggs's long suffering partner who at the start of the film has bought his wife a brand new station wagon, but it then takes a serious beating during their car chase and as the film goes it becomes more and more damaged!

Danny also has his share of good moments in the film, such as the scene where Riggs and Murtaugh turn up at the stilt house and try to arrest Rudd's men.  Rudd turns up and announces who he is and that he is a South African diplomat and Riggs says to Rog "South Africa, Rog.  The home of the Krugerrand" and Rog says "Yeah among other things!".

Another funny moment is when Roger puts on the TV at night for the premiere of his eldest daughter, Rianne's debut TV advert, which turns out to be an add for condoms (which Rog was naturally unaware of!).  And after Roger sees the advert he shuts off the TV in shock and quietly says to his wife "Trish, take the kids upstairs!" and his youngest daughter says "But daddy we learn about this everyday in human development!" and Roger is outraged and says "Human development???? Human what????!!".

And afterward, Roger moans to Riggs about how he told his fellow police officers about the commercial and no doubt they would be watching and Roger says "Cops never let up you see!  Now I'll have rubbers on my desk, rubbers in the coffee, rubbers rubbers rubbers!  If only you kept your mouth shut! I'm going for a walk!".  And just as Roger is about to step out the door, Riggs follows up by saying "Give the boys some credit, you know in one ear and out the rubber!" and Roger stops at the door for a moment and then walks off, leaving Riggs to laugh at himself. 

Also there is of course the scene where he is sitting on the toilet and as Riggs looks under the toilet seat he sees the explosives attached to it Roger says "Tell me I'm not fucked!" and Riggs says quietly "He's fucked!".  And Riggs says to Roger "I'm gonna need to get help" and Roger says "No way!" and Riggs asks "Why?" and Roger tells him "I'm on the toilet.  Give me a break, man" but Riggs insists "Rog, this is serious.  I need to get the bomb squad in here".  Roger shocked says "Bomb squad???" and he takes a moment and says "OK, call them in but don't use the open frequency".  And just before Riggs goes, Roger calls out to him and says "Let's keep this quiet, ok?" and Riggs says "Sure.  Trust me!" and in the next scene we see outside Roger's house, it is crawling with cops and the fire brigade!  

Then there is my favourite scene from Danny in the whole film when Roger turns up at the South African consulate headquarters pretending to be someone who wants to emigrate to South Africa.  And the South African employee at the consulate looks surprised and says "I don't think you want to emigrate to South Africa" and Rog asks why not and the man says "Well... because your black!".  And Rog says "Of course I'm black.  That's why I want to go to South Africa, to help my oppressed brothers take up the tyranny against the fascist white minority regime!  One man, one vote!  Free South Africa, you dumb son of a bitch!!" after which he is kicked out by security and rouses the support of the protesters outside!

Then there is the funny scene where Roger and Leo are in hotel room where Leo looks at Roger's taxes and all of a sudden, Rianne's commercial comes on again.  So, Leo says "Look the body on this kid!  She is so hot!" and Roger turns off the TV and grabs Leo's hand and says "I'm gonna make believe I didn't hear you say that!" and he drags Leo out the door, who protests and says "But she's got a great body.  She makes me wanna go out and buy rubbers!".

And lastly there is the scene where (SPOILER!!!) during the climactic gun fight between Riggs and Roger, that it ends with Rudd being the last man standing, who unloads his gun into Riggs (more on that one later!).  But then, Roger aims his gun right at Rudd and shouts "DROP IT, ASSHOLE!!!" and Rudd then holds up his immunity card and says "Diplomatic immunity!".  However, Roger simply cricks his neck and takes careful aim and shoots Rudd in the head, who falls down dead and Roger says to Rudd "Its just been revoked!".  And after Roger finds Riggs and holds him in his arms, thinking that Riggs is dying he tells him "You're not dead till I tell you.  You got that, Riggs??!" and Riggs slowly comes round and asks Roger to get his cigarette pack form his jeans only for Riggs to tell him to throw them away.  So, Roger then shares a laugh with Riggs, who asks Roger "Where are all the bad guys, Rog?  You get em?" and Roger smiles and says "They've been de-kaffir-nated!" and the two of them share a laugh together.  

Joe Pesci is also pretty good and funny in his role as the irritating federal witness, accountant and former money launderer, Leo Getz, who's catchphrase is "Whatever you want, Leo Getz!".

So, Pesci naturally has his share of good moments in the film such as his first where Leo meets Riggs and Murtaugh and they are both abrupt and rude to him and Riggs tells him to shut up "I get it, bad cop, good cop!" and Rog then tells him to shut up and Leo says "Oh I get it!  Bad cop, bad cop!  I know all the routines".  And Riggs and Roger say they will take the room that Leo is currently in and he says to them "I've already moved all my stuff in here, you know when I...." but Riggs and Roger burn Leo a real hard look.  So, Leo gives in and says "OK, you take the room.  I'm the smallest guy here, so I'll take the small room!".     

And after the South Africans make an attempt on Leo's life, and they land in a swimming pool below, Riggs unwittingly punches Leo in the face, thinking it to be the would be assassin.  And Riggs asks what Leo did and he says "Nothing, nothing honest!  OK I laundered half a billion dollars in drug money, OK?!  Give or take a few, there was so much money!  Can I please have some cotton balls for my nose?!"  and Riggs says "Can you please shut the fuck up!".

Then there is the scene where Leo is incensed at being stiffed at a drive thru where he was given the wrong sandwich.  And he says to Riggs and Roger "Can I give you guys a friendly piece of advice?  Don't ever go to the window, always go up to the counter!  You know why?  I'll tell you.  The FUCK you at the drive-thru OK?  They fuck you at the drive-thru!  They know you're gonna be miles away before you find out you got fucked!  They know you're not gonna turn around and go back, they don't care.  So who get's fucked?!  Ol' Leo Getz!  I don't give a fuck, and I'm not eatin this tuna, ok???!!!" only for Riggs and Roger to suddenly turn around and yell at Leo in unison "SHUT UP!!!!!".  

And last of all there is the scene where Leo clocks the TV advert Rianne, Rog's daughter is in, and Leo says "Look at the body on this girl, she is so hot!" and as Roger sharply turns off the TV set, Leo protests and says "What are you doin???  What are you doin???!  The girl!".  And Rog grabs Leo's hand and says "I'm gonna make believe I didn't hear you say that!" and Leo says to Rog "But she's got a great body!  She wants to make me buy rubbers!".

As for the supporting cast and the villains, Joss Ackland is excellent in his role as the rather creepy and cool headed main villain, Arjen Rudd, who eventually declares open war on the police after so much harrassment.

Ackland has some good moments in the film as well, such as the scene where Riggs, Roger and the other LAPD officers raid the stilts house only for Rudd to come downstairs to address them and Riggs shouts at him "Freeze, dickhead!  Come down here, dickhead!  Its been a bad day!  Show me your fuckin hands!".  So, Rudd says "Its alright, officer.  I won't resist.  My name is Arjen Rudd. l'm Minister of Diplomatic Affairs for the South African consulate.  These men also work for the consulate.  Would you like to see our diplomatic credentials..".  However as Rudd reaches inside his pocket, Roger yells at him "Don't move!" and the officers all tensely prevent Rudd's men from doing anything.

So, after Riggs and the others takes Rudd's credentials from them and checks them, he gives them back.  And Rudd tells the officers "Under the Diplomatic Relations Act...no diplomatic agent may be detained or arrested..." and Riggs finishes the sentence "...once his identity has been established!".  Rudd then says "Now we DO have a serious diplomatic situation here, which I will be taking up with your state department first thing in the morning".  Riggs is not deterred and tells Rudd "Whoa, you got me quaking in my boots, but I'm still gonna bring you down" and Rudd tells Riggs "My dear officer...you could not even give me a parking ticket.  Who is the dickhead now, eh?!".

Then there is the scene where Rudd drops off Rika at her apartment and he explains to her "You see my dear, the politics of our government are not very popular in this country.  And the police force in this city is overrun with blacks.  They have badges and guns and they hate us.  Our consulate staff, particularly myself, will always be victims of their harrassment".  And after he turns to Pieter and tells him "Things are getting out of hand. There are too many losses. We'll move the cash in one large shipment" and Pieter tells him "We'll need more than a suitcase to lif that". Rudd then says to Pieter "l'll worry about that. You worry about the police. Your warning did not work!". 
 And last of all is the scene Riggs makes a surprise visit to Rudd's office as they walk in, Riggs stands behind the door.  And Rudd complains to his men "You call this security? More people come in and out of here than Grand Central Station!" then Riggs shuts the door behind them and the men spring around take out their guns but Rudd shouts "Wait, gentlemen!".  Riggs then smiles and says to them "Don't bother calling the police, I'm here already!" and Rudd says "I should have known".  Rudd then says to his men "Gentlemen....show officer Riggs into the street" however Riggs subdues a couple of them and he points his gun at Rudd and warns him to get out of the country.  Rudd however then just looks at Riggs and tells him "Just get out of here....kaffir lover!". 

Patsy Kensit also does well enough with her role, but she is largely underused in the film and obviously just serves as nothing more than the romantic interest for Riggs, which we plainly see in Kensit and Gibson's rather steamy sex scene.

Kensit admitted though that she felt uncomfortable filming the sex scene with Gibson (as did he) given that they were both in marriages and Kensit at that time was married to Simple Minds lead singer, Jim Kerr (and later she went out with that knob Liam Gallagher, and she must have been taking some serious mind altering substances back then!).

And Patsy does have some good moments in the film also that include the scene where Riggs follows Rika around a local supermarket as she is shopping for groceries.  And Riggs tells her "You should pick from the bottom. They put the old stuff on top".  Riggs then asks her "You don't like your boss very much, do you?" and Rika says "There are alot of things I don't like about my boss and my country. But l like my job very much. lt keeps me here in Los Angeles" and Riggs asks her "You like this town???" and she nods and he says "That's a new one!".  Riggs then starts to flirt a little with her and he says "Shop one day at a time?" and Rika says "Good police work, officer" and Riggs say "I get paid for that kind of thing".  Rika then says "I don't shop for the entire week" and Riggs asks her "Why not?" and she says "I never know what I'll be hungry for from one day to the next".

Then there is the scene where Riggs takes Rika back to his trailer and he shows her the lovely view across the beach and the two of them share have a beer as Riggs prepares to make them a meal.  And in the scene Riggs sits down with a beer and Rika notices his wedding ring and he says "Oh, I used to be married" and Rika asks "But not anymore" and he says "No, not anymore..." and to get out of saying anymore he get's up and says "I've got something on the stove, I'll be right back".  Rika then say "Rudd is hiding behind his diplomatic credentials, isn't he?" and Riggs comes back and asks "What's that?" and Rika again says "Rudd is hiding behind his diplomatic credentials".  Riggs nods and says "Yeah, he' not a very nice guy your boss" and Rika says "Then whatever he's up to... he shouldn't get away with it".  

And lastly there is the scene just after Riggs and Rika narrowly survive Rudd's men gunning them down at Riggs's trailer and Riggs drops Rika off at her apartment.  And Riggs asks Rika of her apartment building "Are there are vacancies up here?  I'm between homes at the moment" and Rika tells him "Yes, you can stay right here".  Riggs smiles and says "Yeah?" and Rika teases him and says "Yes, there's a vacant apartment up there" and Riggs groans and Rika smiles and says "Only kidding.  You can stay with me".  Riggs smiles and asks "Tonight?" and Rika says "Yes, tonight. And tomorrow night. And the night after that...." and Riggs continues "and the night after that?" and Rika says "Hey, don't push your luck..." and they both kiss.  And Riggs says to her "Go inside and lock all the doors and stay there. And you're not going to work tomorrow. There's better ways of staying in LA than working there" and Rika smiles and says "Alright. I just quit". 

Derrick O'Connor is excellent in his role as Pieter Vorstedt, Rudd's security enforcer, who later rages war with the police and has a dubious connection with Riggs's past.

O'Connor has some good scenes in the film, such as his first scene where he shoots one of Rudd's men in head (actually played by Mark Rolston from Aliens), as a result of his failure and Pieter says "You give a whole new meaning to the word dropcloth, Mr Rudd!" and he proceeds to wrap the man's body in plastic covers.  And Rudd says to Pieter "Certain policemen have become an intolerable nuisance. They are obviously on to us again. How do you propose to handle it?".  So, Pieter says "Warn them off.  In my experience, a scared cop is more useful than a dead one" and Rudd says "A warning...is that not a bit tame?" and Pieter says "Depends how you do it".  Rudd then shows a police file photograph of Roger and says "This is the policeman in charge" and Pieter looks at it and says "Goddamn kaffir.  Lovely!". 

Then there is the scene where Pieter and his men raid Roger's house at night and tie up Roger and his wife, Trish and tape their mouths.  And Pieter and his men, are all wearing balaclavas to conceal their faces.  So, Pieter says to Roger "Wondering about your kids? About what we've done to them? lf l was you, l'd be going nuts now. l'd be going fucking bananas. Want to know what we've done? Shall l tell you? Just let your imagination run wild. This has just been a warning. After this, it gets bloody. Now you tell your people to back off!  Don't be a smart Kaffir. Maybe we let you live, huh?!".  So, Pieter says to his men "Come on, let's go!" and they leave the room and only seconds later, Roger and Trish's two kids, Rianne and Nick run in to check on them and scream in surprise.

And lastly O'Connor shares a good scene with Gibson where he has captured him and tied him in a straight jacket and tells him "I'm the guy who changed the course of your life, man!  You were working as a narc and you were getting too close to us, so you had a contract put out on you.  I handled it myself.  Drove your car right off the fucking road, remember?  Oh of course you weren't driving.  I pushed back this mop of blood soaked hair and I saw a face... your wife right?  She didn't die straight away.  It took a bit a of time" and as he is about to leave he says "You don't have much luck with woman do you, Riggs!".

And last of all Steve Kahan makes a welcome return as Riggs and Murtaugh's superior officer, Captain Murphy, who is pretty cynical and weary of both men (and everything for that matter!).

And Kahan has a slightly more prominent role than he did in the original film and he has some good moments that include his scene where Murphy give Riggs and Roger the task of babysitting Leo Getz.

So, in the scene, Murphy says to the men "I got something special for you. Leo Getz has been placed in protective custody. You guys are going to baby-sit him until Washington sends the Feds.  Getz is going to testify before a commission of inquiry. Drugs, laundered money, etc".  There is a pause then Murphy says to them "This is NOT a shit assignment" and Riggs immediately says "Yes, it is" and Murphy says "Its not" and Roger pitches in and says "Its a shit assignment!" and Murphy, fed up says "Shut up the both of you!".

Murphy then says Riggs and Roger "I've guaranteed his safety" and Riggs asks "Why?" and Murphy tells him "You two are the most qualified for the job. And...after last night, you could use the break" referring to the raid on Roger's house by Pieter, but Roger insists "I can handle last night!".  And Riggs, annoyed, asks "What are we supposed to do with this guy?" and Murphy says "How the hell should I know?!  Take him to Disneyland!".  Riggs then shakes his head and says "This stinks!  This stinks!" and Murphy flat out tells him "I don't give a fuck, Riggs.  That's why I don't have an ulcer, cos I know when to say I don't give a fuck!".  And just before they go, Murphy throws Riggs a plaque on his desk and says "Riggs, do you know what that says?" and Riggs looks at the "No smoking" plaque and says "Yeah, same thing as that but I don't give a fuck!" and he throws it back to Murphy.

And lastly there is the scene where Riggs, Roger and Leo have narrowly avoided death at the hands of one of Rudd's henchmen, who tried to kill them and they return to the station after the henchman is killed in a crash where another car collides with the henchmen's truck and it sends a surfboard crashing right into his face.

So, in the scene, Murphy says to Riggs and Roger "All I know is I got a dead guy in the morgue with a surfboard where his face used to be...and in the morning, the State Department is gonna be breathing down our throats. And I'll have to make some sort of goddamn formal apology to the South African consulate".  Riggs however is outraged and angrily says to Murphy "Apologise?!! That is a sack of shit!  This guy is dirty, he's a crook!" and Murphy cuts him off and firmly says "It doesn't matter if he's dirty, Riggs. He's a diplomat. He has immunity! We can't touch him, arrest him, prosecute him! Does that spell it out for you?!".  And Leo, who is with them says "Yes, sir" and Murphy, fed up asks Riggs and Rog "Who the hell is this guy?!" and Leo tells him who he is.  And Murphy dispairs "Jesus!  You took a civilian on a bust!  The civilian you are supposed to be PROTECTING!!!".  However, Leo insists "That's OK.  I usually just wait in the car" but Murphy can't believe it and says "USUALLY??! USUALLY?!" and Leo says "Yeah, they're very adamant about that..." but Murphy has had enough and turns away saying "I don't give a fuck!  I don't give a fuck....". 


DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Moving finally onto the direction, Richard Donner, once again does a fine job with the film and he stages the action scenes really well and ups the tempo and the pace from the original and despite the shift to a more comedic tone he also still manages to retain a fair balance of drama as well in the sequel.

Donner later stated on the Blu-ray commentary for the film that they had actually shot two different endings to the film with one where Riggs lives and the other where he dies.  In the end, both endings were shown to test audiences, who were more in favour of the ending where Riggs survives and of course they would want to so we could get another sequel!  Anyway this is a very solid effort from Donner overall as it showed he had a continued assuredness over the franchise.

Music wise, Michael Kamen once again provides a fine score for the film and is backed up very well once more by Eric Clapton on guitar and David Sanbourne on the sax.  The film also makes good use of George Harrison's song "Cheer down" which was in fact recorded for the film to promote it, which he did along with the American rock artist, Tom Petty.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain the odd spoiler!)

So as for flaws.... how does Lethal Weapon 2 favour???  OK well, yeah its not quite perfect, it does have some issues.

And to start one of the film's problems lies partly with the film's more comedic tone, which serves to undercut the effectiveness of the characters a bit more than in the original film.  It still does have some good dramatic moments and its good that Weapon 2 has its funny moments but on the other hand it started to show signs of the main characters one day would become a parody of themselves, which by Lethal Weapon 4 they certainly did!   

Perhaps also you could argue that while the film certainly aimed to cover relevant issues of the time with the Apartheid in South Africa, it feels somewhat superficial next to all the action and despite Ackland and O'Connor's excellent performances, the other cast members performing as South africans sound a bit feeble and almost like they have a slapped on accent (although perhaps some of them are South African!).

There are of course some rather silly scenes here, such as the one where one of Rudd's men makes an attempt on Leo's life at the hotel and when Riggs dives towards the man and Leo that when they all go crashing through the window and they all conveniently land in a pool directly below them!  I mean there is blind luck and there is total coincidence and I just think that this scene was frankly ridiculous to stay the least if you can believe that Leo's hotel room would just so handily be situated right above the hotel swimming pool!       

Another thing is the film has a pretty silly over the top ending where (OK PLOT SPOILER!!!!!) Riggs and Murtaugh disregard all police procedure, despite being under strict orders not to interfere, they both go and create havoc, kill all Rudd's men, with Riggs flattening (literally!) Pieter and Rog "revoking" Rudd's diplomatic immunity!  Yet at the end of course I'm sure given Hollywood's so-called (or rather non-existant as I made this bit up!) policing policies that the LAPD will be willing to sweep this whole mess under the carpet with no repurcussions whatsoever for Riggs or Murtaugh for a blatant disregard to following direct orders!

And that is something that Riggs continually does particularly with Rudd where he is ordered to back off him, yet he far from subtly pesters him in public and even goes to his office, assaults Rudd's men and shoots his fish tank!  And nothing will be done, cos its Riggs and he can do what he wants!  Again its Hollywood.

WARNING: THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH IS A BIG SPOILER!!!

Then there is the scene where Riggs has his climactic fight scene with Pieter and at the start Pieter throws a knife that goes right through Riggs's leg and as they fight and Riggs seems to gain the upper hand, Pieter then grabs the knife and turns it, causing Riggs to scream in agony.  Riggs somehow manages to withdraw the knife from his leg and then stab Pieter in the stomach with it.  Now, after this Riggs rather than finish off Pieter, decides to get up and walk off only for Pieter to then slowly get up and take out his gun and aim at Riggs, just before Riggs flattens him with cargo container!

Now my question is this....would it be possible for Pieter to stand up just after he had been viciously stabbed in the stomach???  I mean I think the guy's stomach muscles would be pretty much buggered at this point and I don't think realistically he would be able to stand up!  However I could of course be wrong but then again it is an action movie and improbable things tend to happen!

AND JUST ONE MORE SPOILER ALERT!!

And last of all, I have a gripe regarding the scene near the end where Rudd shoots Riggs several times in his body, yet Rudd somehow manages to successfully miss all of Riggs's vital organs in the process!  This of course is where the possible alternate ending would have come in that would have seen Riggs die instead of live.  However again it boils down to amazing coincidence that Riggs would be able to survive Rudd's gunfire although we could also just put it all down to Rudd have stormtrooper aim! 

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP 

So, to sum up, Lethal Weapon 2 is a very enjoyable sequel to the original film and it sees the franchise start to take a more comedic, light hearted approach after the dark tone of the first film (much to the orignal's writer displeasure, Shane Black).  And the film is again ably handled by its solid cast, good direction from Donner and a witty and funny script by Jeffrey Boam.

However at the same time the film's more overt comic tone would start to see the series quality take a bit of a downturn, especially when we finally got to the decidedly average and disappointing Lethal Weapon 4.  And it threatens to change both the main lead characters and turn them into parodies of themselves, which would again happen later.

But if you can forgive all that then there is still much to commend Lethal Weapon 2 and it remains one of the strongest entries in the series, which is overall a lot of fun and has its share of good action.
Right, so that's it for now and I will be back again sometime soon with my revisitation of Lethal Weapon 3!

Until then its bye for now!

Lethal Weapon (Revisited) "Have a nice day!"

Right, this is the THIRD revisitation post I've done this month, so its getting to be a habit it appears!

Anyway, so this post I figured I would do another classic action film and the film in question is the first Lethal Weapon film (strangely enough called Lethal Weapon) which is now 30 years old!  But after 30 years, how does it stack up????  Well, let's load up and take a look....

And yes even though its a 30 year old film and alot of you have seen it, I'll issue the usual warning all the same...

SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!

STORY  

So the film is set in 1987 in Los Angeles at around Christmas time and it starts with LAPD police officer, Sergeant Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) who has just turned 50.  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, Victoria which has left him suicidal. Riggs then that night, goes home and nearly kills himself as he puts a gun in his mouth but at the last minute he relents and cries to himself and looks at the picture of his wife and says "I'll see you much later!".

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 responsible and kill them.

Murtaugh however finds out first hand what a loose canon Riggs is, when Riggs goes up to try and talk down a man, McCleary (Michael Shaner) 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, the two men start to put aside their differences then they 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 (Lycia Naff) 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 eldest 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....

THOUGHTS 

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, there 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, which we see in that scene near the start in Riggs's trailer (and no I don't mean the scene where he get's out of his bed, naked, and we see his ass!).

However 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.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers and strong language!) 

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!".  Then one of the dealers suddenly grabs Riggs from behind and points a gun at him and as a number of police officers show up and point guns at the dealer, Riggs shouts out to the other officers "Hey shoot him!  Shoot him!  Will somebody shoot this prick??!".  And as the dealer becomes more angry and agitated, Riggs crazily keeps taunting the dealer and shouts in his "Shoot me!  Shoot me!  Shoot me!  Shoot me!".  However, Riggs then manages to disarm the dealer and he turns the tables and points the gun under the dealer's chain and with an insane look says to him through gritted teeth "You wanna see crazy???!!".  The dealer is then arrested and taken away, leaving Riggs gasping for breath as he is riled from the encounter.

Then 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 much to Roger's chagrin.

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 in the scene as Roger yells at Riggs "Do you want to kill yourself?  YES OR NO, DO YOU WANNA DIE?!" Riggs tells Roger "What do you wanna hear, man?! You wanna about sometimes I think about eatin a bullet?!".  So, Riggs continues "Well, I do!  Make sure it blows the back of my goddamned head out and do the job right! Every single day I wake up and I think of a reason not to do it! Every single day! You know why I don't do it? This is gonna make you laugh! You know why I don't do it? The job! Doin' the job! Now that's the reason!". 

Then as Roger dares Riggs into pulling the trigger on Rog's gun, Riggs with the gun pointed under his chin, starts to pull the trigger but Roger stops him.  Roger, then looks at Riggs in shock and says "You're not trying to draw a psycho pension!  You really ARE crazy!" and Riggs glares at him and says "I'm hungry.  I'm gonna go and get something to eat!" and he walks off leaving Roger in a panic.

Another good scene is where Riggs and Murtaugh go to the firing range and discuss the case whole doing some target practice, however what they come up with sounds a bit thin.  So, Roger says to Riggs of their assessment "That's pretty fuckin thin!" and Riggs says "With your wife's cooking, I'm not surprised!" and he fires a few shots off (as Roger's wife is a terrible cook).  And Roger offended shouts "WHAT?!" and Riggs says "Nothing!" and Rog then says "Remarks like that will not get you invited to Christmas dinner!" and Riggs grins and says "My luck is changing for the better every day!".

Murtaugh shows off his skill as he fires a perfect shot at a paper target right in the centre and he boasts to Riggs "Hey, look at that!  Not bad for an old man!".  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!".

Then there is the scene where Riggs is shot on the streets by Joshua, who does a drive-by shooting, however Riggs survives it as he was wearing his bullet proof vest.  And in the scene Roger rushes over Riggs, who lies flat on the his back having crashed through a shop window but Rog opens Riggs shirt to see him wear a vest.  Then, Riggs springs to life and he painfully sits and says "I'm pissed now, Roger!  I'm pissed!" and as Rog helps him he says "If he was two inches higher he would have got your head!" and Riggs says "If it was two inches lower I would be a falsetto for life, come on let's fuck off!".  And after Riggs get's up on his feet he says to Roger "The guy that shot me!  It was the same Albino jackrabbit, son of a bitch that did Hunsaker!" and Roger asks him "Are you sure?!" and Riggs says "I'm sure.  I never forget an asshole!".

And last of all there is the scene where Riggs escapes the clutches of the torturer, Endo in the basement of the club they use as a front for their business and breaks in and kills McAllister's men.  And Riggs after looks at Roger, who grins and says "Pretty thin, huh?" and Riggs says "Anorexic!" then he frees Roger and Rianne and says "Let's do what one shepherd said to the other shepherd" and Roger says "What's that?" and Riggs says "Let's get the flock out of here!".

Danny Glover is also great in his role as Roger Martaugh, the middle aged cop who is starting to feel old and wary of his job 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 in the scene Roger tells Dixie to go home and Dixie says "Thanks.  I'm beat, you know how it is" and Roger says "Yeah!  All dressed up and no one to blow!" and Dixie, offended turns around and says "You're hilarious!" and walks off angrily.

And of course Glover delivers the film's most famous well recognised line when Roger first clocks Riggs in the office, dressed in jeans and a jacket and wearing a cap, take out his gun.  And Roger shouts "GUN!!" thinking that Riggs might be a perp, so Rog 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!".

Then in the next scene the two men walk toward Roger's police car and Roger talks about Riggs's police file and his background in Special Forces.  And Roger says to Riggs as they walk to the car "File also said you're heavy into martial arts. Tai chi and all that killer stuff. I suppose we have to register you as a lethal weapon!".  And Riggs says to Roger "Hey, look friend, let's just cut the shit. Now we both know why I was transferred. Everybody thinks I'm suicidal, in which case, I'm fucked and nobody wants to work with me; or they think I'm faking to draw a psycho pension, in which case, I'm fucked and nobody wants to work with me. Basically, I'm fucked!".  And Roger tells Riggs "Guess, what?" and Riggs asks "What?" and Roger says "I don't want to work with you!" and Riggs says "Hey, dont!" and Roger says "Got no choice. Looks like we both got fucked!".  The two men then get in the car and before Roger starts the ignition he tells Riggs "God hates me, that what it is!" and Riggs says "Hate him back, it works for me!".

Another good scene and a rather intense one is just after Riggs jumps off the roof with the suicidal jumper, McCleary and they both land in an inflatable airbag and after Roger angrily takes Riggs into a nearby store that is being painted.  And Roger yells at Riggs and says "OK, clown!  No bullshit!  You wanna kill yourself?!" and Riggs says "Oh, for Christ's sake..." and Roger yells "SHUT UP!! YES OR NO!! DO YOU WANNA DIE??!!".  Riggs then yells back "I GOT THE JOB DONE!  WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT??!" and Roger shouts back at him "JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!!" and Riggs tell how he thinks about it and he even has a bullet for the occassion.  So, after Roger taunts Riggs to shoot himself with Roger's gun, Riggs nearly does but Roger stops him and says "You're not trying to draw a psycho pension!  You really ARE crazy!!". 

Then there is the scene where Roger and Riggs go to question a drug dealer at a mansion only for the dealer to shoot at them and Roger shoots the dealer in the leg and as Roger is about to read his rights he lectures Riggs on arresting a suspect.  So, Rog says to Riggs "See how easy that was? Boom, still alive. Now we question him. You know why we question him? Because I got him in the leg. I didn't shoot him full of holes or try to jump off a building with him!".  And Riggs says "That's not fair, the building guy lived!" and Roger says "The point being, no killing!" and Rigg says "No, killing right" but as Riggs is about to read the dealer his rights, the dealer suddenly produces another gun, so Riggs has no choice but to shoot him.  The dealer then falls into a pool and drowns as he caught up in a pool net and as Roger and Riggs resurface, Roger asks Riggs "Have you ever met anybody you DIDN'T kill???" and Riggs says "Well, I haven't kill you yet!" and Roger says "Well, don't do me no favours!" and Riggs get's out the pool and says "Don't you worry!". 

Glover also has some good dramatic moments as well especially the scene where Roger goes to question Hunsaker over his involvement with the mercaneries.  And Roger says to Hunsaker "Your daughter wasn't killed for something she was into. She was killed for something you're into. Stop me if I'm wrong".  And Hunsaker, puts his hand towards the inside of his jacket and says "Roger, I don't know what you're talking about!" and Roger says "Hey, Mike.  Keep your hand away from your pockets, OK?".  Hunsaker then produces some pills from his pocket and says "Take it easy, man!" and Roger then angrily shouts "Fuck easy!".

Roger then continues to ask Hunsaker "You called me the other day to blow the whistle, right?" and Hunsaker wearily asks "Blow the whistle on what?".  Roger then says "You were going to spill your guts, so they killed your daughter. Tell me if I'm wrong. Talk to me! They killed your daughter. They paid off a hooker to poison your little girl!  Talk to me!".

So, as Hunsaker tells Roger about the mercs heroin shipments, Hunsake warns him "This is big business, Roger" and Roger turns to him and says "Not anymore.  I'm gonna burn it down!".  Then as Roger insists that Hunsaker tell all the info he has on the mercs operation, Joshua suddenly shows up in a chopper and shoots Hunsaker dead.  Roger then checks Hunsaker's dead body and says to him "Heroin...you got off easy, you son of a bitch!".

Another good moment from Danny is when Roger and Riggs escape from McAllister and Joshua and they run out onto the streets and Roger, exhausted yells out to Riggs "Hey, Riggs!  He's going for the freeway!".  Riggs looks back and shouts "You OK?" and Roger exhausted says "Yeah!" and Riggs runs off and Roger calls out to him "Cut over the 3rd street bridge!  You'll be able to get ahead of him!".  Then Roger, who has sit down by a street lamp, slowly get's himself up and says "General McAllister....time for you to die!".

And last of all is the film's last scene where Riggs turns up to give Roger the bullet Riggs was going to use to kill himself, which he gives to Rianne at the door but as he is about to leave, Roger comes out.  And Roger says to Riggs "After all we've been through...if you think I'm gonna eat the world's worst turkey by myself...you're crazy!".  Riggs then smiles and says to Roger "I'll tell you a little secret....I'm not crazy" and Roger smiles and says "I know!" and Riggs says "Oh, good.  Let's eat!".  And as Roger allows Riggs to invite in his dog, we hear the commotion of the dog barking at Roger's household cat, Burbank and Roger at the front door says to himself the film's last line "I'm too old for this!".

Gary Busey in his role as the primary 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 he says to Riggs "See, we have a problem. Since we have Murtaugh...we don't need you. I believe in being thorough" and Riggs says to him "Yeah, I've heard that about you".  So, Joshua continues "Our problem, and yours too...is we have a shipment of merchandise to deliver" and Riggs says "Why don't you guys just call it heroin?!".  Joshua smiles and says "It's rather large, this shipment. It would be unfortunate...if we showed up to deliver our heroin..and were surrounded by 50 cops!" and Riggs says "That would be too bad".

Joshua then says "So, its essential for us to find out all the cops now" and Riggs says they don't know anything as he killed Hunsaker before he could tell them anything.  However, Joshua doesn't buy it and shouts "No!  No! 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 as Riggs says "I told you everything I know!" Joshua turns to Endo to start torturing Riggs and Endo holds two pairs of what looks like jump cables with sponges attached to them.  And Riggs nervously asks "What the fuck is that thing?!" and Joshua tells him "I'll tell what it is...its electric shock treatment!".   

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!".  And as Joshua finds a note from Riggs saying "Dear bad guys.  No one here but us cops. The good guys" Joshua says "Crazy son of a bitch!" but then Roger's police car comes crashing through the living room and Joshua fills it with holes from his gun only to find it empty and a knife jammed in the accelerator.  So, Riggs then springs up on him and takes his gun and says to Joshua "What do you say, Jack?  Would you like a shot at the title?" and Joshua grins and says "Don't mind if I do!" and two of them engage in their climactic fight scene.  

Ryan Mitchell is also very 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 drug buyer, Mendez and he threatens him by showing Joshua's ability to withstand pain.  And McAllister asks the dealer "Do you smoke?" and the dealer says "What's that go to do with anything?" and McAllister snaps "Do you smoke??!".   And Mendez nervously says "Yeah" and McAllister asks "Give my your lighter" and Mendez asks "My...my lighter?" and McAllister yells "YOU'RE LIGHTER!!".  So Mendez takes out his lighter and all of a sudden, McAllister's men grab Mendez's arm and McAllister holds Mendez's hand with the lighter and as Mendez protests, McAllister yells "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!! SHUT UP!!".

So, McAllister looks to Joshua and says "Mr Joshua, your left arm, please" so Joshua rolls his sleeve and McAllister flicks on the lighter right under Joshua's bare arm as the flame burns into Joshua's arm, who just takes the pain in his stride, leaving Mendez terrified.  So, after the demonstration, McAllister tells and shaken Mendez "The bulk of the heroin will be here Friday night, we'll make delivery at that time. Have the money ready, and no tricks. If you try anything... you'll have to talk to Mr. Joshua. Merry Christmas!".

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 Roger tells McAllister "I've told you everything!" and McAllister looks at Rianne and says to Roger "We'll soon now, won't we?" and Roger angrily says of Rianne "I'm warning you....don't!".  McAllister then says "Spare me, son, its over.  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.  And Darlene has a couple of good moments such as the one where Roger first invites Riggs are to meet his family and he checks the oven to see what's for dinner.  So, Roger says as he looks in the oven "We'll see what's for dinner.  Its a brown sticky...." and Trish smacks his bottom and she says to him "Its roast!".  So, Roger sarcastically says to Riggs "How about a brown roast-like substance?" and Trish tells him "Roger, you're being an asshole".

And lastly there is the scene where Roger and Riggs learn that Rianne has been kidnapped as they receive a call from Joshua at Roger's house.  At this point, Trish appears at the top of the stairs, looking worried she asks "What is it?" and Roger says "Nothing!" and Trish shouts "What is it???!" and Roger tries to play it down and says "Nothing!" louder.  Trish then turns to her other children, Nick and Carrie "Get back in your room!  Back in your room!" and Trish then slides down on the stairs in tears.    

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 to the police psychiatrist, Stephanie Woods (Mary Ellen Trainor) "Look!  Riggs just wants the cash.  I've seen it a dozen times before!  He's a tough bastard, alright?!".  However Woods insists "He's on the edge.  I'm telling you he may be psychotic!" and Murphy says "That's a bunch of psych bullshit!".  Woods then says to Murphy "You're making a mistake keeping the man in the field.  The man is suicidal!".  So, Murphy cynically asks her "You're sure of that diagnosis?!" and Woods says "No, there are no absolutes in life!" and Murphy says to her "End of discussion.  We're going to wait and if he offs himself, we'll know I was wrong!".  And as Woods tries to continue their discussion, Murphy stops her as he is about to enter the men's room and he says to her "Excuse me, huh?!" and he goes in, leaving Woods annoyed and she says to herself "Asshole!".

Traci Wolfe is also pretty good (and very pretty!) in her role as Rianne, Roger's eldest daughter, who is later kidnapped by McAllister and Joshua and also has a crush on Riggs when they first meet.

And I will only mention one of Traci's scenes and its the one where Rianne asks if her date can take her to a club much to Roger's disaproval.  So, Rianne asks Roger in the scene "Didn't mean to interrupt one of those intellectual conversations...Mark asked me to a club tomorrow night".  Roger then asks "Which one is Mark?" and Rianne says "The blonde one" and Roger says "The one with pits in his face?" and Rianne annoyed, says "Those are dimples!" and Roger says "Those are pits.  When he smiles I can see through his head.  The answer is no!".  So, Rianne complains "Why can I have a beer and I can't smoke a joint? It's not coke, you know!" and Roger tells her "Because now, at this moment...beer is legal, grass ain't. Right or wrong?" and Rianne says "Wrong" but Riggs says "Right" and she smiles at him and says "Right" back.  So, Rianne gives in and walks off and says to herself "They sit there drinking six-packs and I get grounded!".

And lastly Tom Atkins is also very good as Michael Hansaker, Roger's Vietnam buddy who once saved his life during the war and turns to him for help as he tries to get out of the drug operation run by the mercs.

And Atkins primarily has only two main scenes in the film, which are both very good and shows Atkins is capable actor.   The first scene is when Roger meets with Hunsaker to tell him that his daughter was murdered and she didn't kill herself.  So, Hunsaker becomes emotional and says to Roger "You owe, Roger.  You remember?" and Roger quietly says "Yeah, I remember".  Hunsaker then continues and says "I want you to find whoever's responsible for this...however many of them there are. I know you can do it. Just find them and kill them".  Roger, then quietly tries to reason with Hunsaker and says "Mike, I'm a police officer..." but then Hunsaker angrily says "I don't give a shit that you're a police officer! I know you're a fucking police officer!  KILL THEM! JUST KILL THEM!".  Roger then just walks off annoyed but Hunsaker catches up to and says "Wait. Wait, Rog. Come on. You find them and you kill them. You can do that. You owe me!".


And lastly there is the scene where Hunsaker tells Roger about the mercs operation to run shipments of heroin.  So, Hunsaker tells Roger "I was with a special unit called "Shadow Company." Trained killers. When Charlie brought in heroin to finance the VC government...Shadow Company burned the whole thing down. We killed everybody".  And Hunsaker continues "A few years ago, Shadow Company got together again. The war was over. But we still had our sources in Asia. We've been bringing it in ever since".  Roger then asks "Bringing in what?" and Hunsaker tells him "Heroin.  Two major shipments a year" and Roger asks "If you got cold feet, why did they kill Amanda?  Why not you?!".  Hunsaker then says "They can't kill me, they need me!" and Roger asks angrily "Why?!" and Hunsaker says "My bank! My company is a perfect front.  Makes everything look great on the tax reports" and he says "This is big business, Roger" and Roger then says "Not anymore.  I'm gonna burn it down!".

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 
 
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.  So overall, the original Lethal Weapon is one of Donner's best directorial efforts.   

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.

As for the film's music score, its excellent which and 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?!). 

FLAWS 

As for the flaws of the film????  Well Lethal Weapon isn't perfect but it hasn't got too many glaring problems.

However perhaps one of its flaws is that 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!

I also felt the film at times had an uncomfortable mix of strong violence in which what we see onscreen is OK for the most part (I guess!) but Shane Black, who wrote the screenplay seems to have some weird fetish for putting torture into his scripts.  So, the scenes where Riggs is brutally tortured with electric shock treatment was the start of a rather disturbing fetish that would permeate in Black's other works (such as Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang).  Black also when he wrote the original outline for Lethal Weapon 2 also wanted Riggs to be tortured again and die at the hands of the South Africans but his idea was dismissed and he then decided to pull out of the production.

Another thing I found very peculiar was to do with the start of the film where Hunsaker's daughter, Amanda, dives off the rooftop of her apartment and lands heavily ontop of a car below and in the next moment and she lies there dead, we see the shadows of two people walk by!!!  I mean I take we are meant to believe that's how people are in LA that they are so desensitized to violence and death that they are willing to turn a blind eye to it!  But that one scene seemed pretty ridiculous to me I have to say.  Not unless of course they were the killers, who "doctored" the pills for Amanda are the ones who were walking by, however I still don't buy that myself.

Lastly there is the whole idea of Riggs being in the Vietnam war....look at Mel Gibson, he was 30 or 31 when he made Lethal Weapon (he was born in 1956), so if he was in the Vietnam war then he would have been merely 17 years old by the time the war had finished!  Basically, if Riggs was a Vietnam vet just like Murtaugh then it doesn't make any sense that he would be played a younger actor such as Mel Gibson at that time.  Surely Riggs should have just been another middle aged guy in this respect rather than a 30 something younger guy, who clearly couldn't have been old enough to participate in the Vietnam war in the first place!

Further to this point there is a piece of dialogue where McAllister captures Riggs and Riggs says to him "It'll be a shame when I nail you.  I ran into you shadow company pussies back in 69".  Again, Mel Gibson was 13 in 1969, Riggs must have been at least 19 or 20 in 1969, so again its blatant case of the actor being too young to play the part of a Vietnam vet.  So, basically I think in relation to Mel's age, they should have just left the Vietnam vet thing for Riggs out of the equation.  But hey that's just my interpretation but for me it still remains one of the film's flaws.    

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up the original Lethal Weapon is still arguably the best one in my opinion although the first two films could arguably be said to the best of the four (with three the 3rd best and 4th the worst!).  However where the original stands apart here is that it is grounded a bit more in reality and the darker tone of the Shane Black's script helps give it a more gritty and realistic feel than the other films had in comparison, which got more farcical as they went on. 

So, throw onto all this a witty, funny script, two excellent lead performances and some very solid direction and an excellent music score then you've still got one of the great modern action classics of its day and to this day, Lethal Weapon is still definitely worth a look after 30 years.

Right, so that's it for now and I will be back with another review of some sort or other quite soon.

Till the next un, its bye for now!