Lethal Weapon 2 1989 Film Starring Mel Gibson
Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh Return as LA's Finest Boys in Blue
Sep 16, 2009
Reckless cop Martin Riggs and his partner Roger Murtaugh return to the streets of LA to protect an irritating witness. Their boring assignment is interrupted when they realise that their witness was acting on behalf of South African drug dealers who are hiding behind diplomatic immunity.
Lethal Weapon 2's Plot and Key Characters
Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh (Mel Gibson and Danny Glover reprising their roles from the previous film) are on the trail of a stolen car through the streets of LA. The car thief is able to elude them after the car crashes and they discover that the boot is full of South African Krugerrands (gold coins which were illegal in the U.S. due to sanctions against the South African apartheid regime). Later that night, Roger is attacked in his home by masked intruders who warn him against pursuing an investigation into the Krugerrands.
Due the attack on Murtaugh, he and Riggs are assigned to protect an irritating Federal Witness, Leo Getz (Joe Pesci). Soon after their arrival an assassin arrives and tries to kill Getz. The pair discovers that Getz laundered more than half a billion in drug money for the same people that they were chasing a few nights before. Getz leads them to the drug dealers’ base of operations, a house on stilts, where Riggs recognises the assassin from the hotel.
Returning later with backup, Riggs and his fellow officers attempt to arrest everyone in the house, but their attempts are foiled by the arrival of Arjen Rudd (Joss Ackland), the minister of affairs for the South African Consulate. He informs the officers of the diplomatic immunity of himself and his people, and the police are forced to leave because they are trespassing on South African soil.
Despite being told that they cannot pursue Arjen, Riggs and Murtaugh wage a private war against him and his people, determined to bring them down despite their immunity due to their diplomatic status. Their efforts provoke Arjen to send his chief enforcer, Pieter Vorstedt (Derrick O'Connor) to deal with the police.
Strong Sequel to a Great Original
Lethal Weapon set the standard for the cop-buddy movie and lightening was able to strike twice with this excellent sequel. The development of the two characters has continued in the intervening two years with Riggs now like one of the family. Murtaugh’s wife Trish (Darlene Love also returning from Lethal Weapon) does Riggs’ laundry and he has also become a prominent figure in the lives of Murtaugh’s growing children.
Richard Donner returns to direct, and knows how to get the best performances from his returning cast and the new comers. He is familiarity with the characters (and the Lethal Weapon universe) allows him to walk the line between the close friendship between Murtaugh and Riggs as well as Riggs’ struggle to deal with a horrifying revelation.
The action sequences are exciting and Pesci knows how to play a convincing whiny and irritating character (a contrast to the ruthless psycho he played in Goodfellas). During the course of the film while Getz doesn’t exactly grow on the two, they do manage to develop a kind of begrudging respect for him.
Lethal Weapon 2 is arguably a better film than the original, and was the favourite of the franchise according to Gibson, Glover and Donner. Lethal Weapon 2 does manage to set itself apart from other cop-buddy films because the idea of having criminals that cannot be touched because of their diplomatic status was inspired.
9/10
Lethal Weapon 2 is an excellent sequel to a great original with actors obviously at home in their roles. Any fans of action-comedies or the original film will not be disappointed by this marvellous sequel.
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