#98 -- Lethal Weapon 2

I’ve always loved the Lethal Weapon franchise. The Lethal Weapon movies have decent amounts of action; nice quantities of comedy; and some of the most likable characters found in this type of genre. The Lethal Weapons are the ultimate-big-dumb-American action movies. Forget both Lethal Weapon 3 & Lethal Weapon 4 -- they are good action films, but nothing more. The reason why the Lethal Weapon franchise strikes a cord with me, is because of the first two installments; there’s something special about those two.

The original Lethal Weapon introduced us to Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover). Riggs, the out of control cop who is so destroyed over the death of his wife that he could care less if he lives or dies -- making him a lethal weapon to the bad guys and to his partner. Murtaugh, the caring family man who is always, “too old for this sh*t.” Together they make the perfect odd couple. Add to the mix some really mean bad guys, wonderful acting, a fine director (Richard Donner), nice action scenes, and a little off-beat humor, and you have a wonderful action film, Lethal Weapon. Now add a much more interesting plot, more character development, a smarter script, even worse bad guys, a gorgeous woman, gratuitous violence, and much more humor, and you have the far superior, much darker Lethal Weapon 2.

Lethal Weapon 2 is really an oxymoron of a film. It’s your big-dumb-American action movie -- that is surprisingly smart. It’s an action film -- that also works as a very moving and compelling drama. I’ve seen the film at least five times, and every time I watch it I can’t help but be a little surprised by it.

the following analysis contains spoilers

The film begins, or explodes really, with a neat little car chase involving Riggs & Murtaugh against some crazy blonde hair South Africans. Gold is discovered, and soon enough Riggs and Murtaugh discover an operation involving South African diplomats who are making money illegally -- they are selling, and distributing illegal contraband. Now these are not just your regular old bad guys mind you, I’ll repeat myself, these are South African diplomats. I find this to be a pretty bold move to begin with. Most action films would take something simple like the Mafia, drug lords, or they would just make the villains bad for no reason in particular. While some of the motives for the bad guys are never fully explained, the villains themselves are quite creepy with their true life beliefs and actions. There is a scene in which Arjenn Rudd (Joss Ackland) tries to explain his motives to the naive Rika Van Den Haas(Patsy Kensit), "The policies of our government are not popular here in America, as you know. The police department of this city is overrun with blacks. They have badges and guns, and they hate us.” The villains of Lethal Weapon 2 are not your typical out of this world, over the top action villains; they are much more realistic -- making them much more disturbing.

characters

Its been a few years since the events that took place in the original Lethal Weapon. Riggs seems to have healed over the death of his wife, thanks to the love of Roger and his caring family. In fact, Riggs is now basically part of the Murtaugh family. The relationship between Roger and Riggs is no longer the love/hate relationship it once was; they have a father and son relationship now.

Joining the cast is the oddball Leo Getz (played wonderfully by Joe Pesci). The reason for the Leo Getz character is a brilliant move by screen writer Jeffery Boam. With Getz, the Lethal Weapon series is given a funny clown, and Riggs and Murtaugh are allowed to be more serious with each other; instead of Riggs and Murtaugh constantly bickering like they did in the first one, they now have someone to yell at, and their relationship is allowed to grow. Leo Getz is so annoying, that he ceases to become irritating, and becomes outrageously funny. My favorite Leo scene is when he goes off on drive-ins, “don’t ever go up to the drive-thru, always walk up to the counter. You know why? OK, OK, OK, OK -- they fu*k you at the drive-thru!”

It has been said by many critics, and I will second it, a great action film depends on the villains in the film. The villains in Lethal Weapon 2 are grade A. Like I said before, they are South African diplomats, lead by the nasty Arjenn Rudd, a racist old man who can basically get away with doing anything he wants because of his diplomatic immunity. Perhaps the true villain of the film is his filthy henchman, Pieter Vorstedt(Derrick O'Connor). Pieter is a particularly evil man. One scene that comes to mind, that shows his true colors perfectly, is when Pieter and his men go to the Murtaugh home to warn Roger that he should stay out of the South African affairs. They tie-down Roger and his Wife, and Pieter tells them to imagine what he just did to their children. Of course he did nothing, but he just wants to watch Roger squirm at the idea.

In Lethal Weapon 2 a love interest is introduced to Riggs. The character is played by the gorgeous Patsy Kensit. Kensit’s character Rika Van Den Haas, is about the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen, and she plays one of the most important parts in the entire Lethal Weapon series. I’ll talk more about that later on.

I’ve always been in awe of the character of Martin Riggs. It surprises me how many people embrace him as a “hero.” Riggs is no hero. He is a man who is mentally unbalanced, and lives life like he has nothing to lose. He just happens to be on the good guy side, but the viewer gets the idea that there isn’t much that’s stopping him from being a villain. When Riggs and Murtaugh find billions of dollars on a boat harbor, Roger grabs some of the money and exclaims, “I could send all my kids to college with this,” Riggs replies, “why don’t you take it?” This scene shows the difference between Roger and Riggs. Roger wouldn’t dare take the money, even if it crossed his mind, because he is an honest cop. If Riggs would have wanted the money, he would have taken the money. Rarely in the entire Lethal Weapon series has Riggs shown the type of mercy that would be expected from a police officer. It’s nice to see a non-liberal action hero.

action scenes

Lethal Weapon 2 isn’t a ground breaking action flick, but it does have some eye-grabbing scenes. The film has your standard out of control car chase scenes, except that they aren’t standard, they are far cooler then anything you would usually see in a action film. The best action scenes in Lethal Weapon 2: Roger on a toilet with a bomb placed under it; South Africans attacking Riggs' trailer by helicopter; Riggs disassembling a house on a cliff by using his truck. The film has good action in it, but the film has more then just action to fall back on.

the dark side

Perhaps the main reason for Lethal Weapon 2’s greatness is because of how tragic it truly is. What’s this? Tragedy in a action film? I know it’s strange, but perhaps that’s why Lethal Weapon 2 is so special. Consider the scene the DVD labels Vorstedt’s revelation: “I’m the guy who changed the course of your life,” Vorstedt tells Riggs. We learn that Pieter Vorstedt is in fact that man who murdered Riggs' wife. This revelation is a devastating one for Martin Riggs. Remember, the reason why Riggs is so out of control, borderline suicidal, and has never been able to get his life together is because of the death of his wife. The fact that Riggs doesn’t realize the truth of his wife’s demise till the second installment of the series, makes Lethal Weapon 2 all the more important of a film.

To make matters worse, within the next two minutes of this major discovery, around five fellow police offers are murdered by the South Africans. That’s two points for the bad guys, zero for the good guys. The final blow, and perhaps the most lethal for the viewer and the character Martin Riggs, is the discovery of the murdered body of the Patsy Kensit character. Not only does Riggs now have to deal with the truth of his murdered wife, not only does he have to mourn over the murder of his fellow partners and friends, but the woman he just made love with is found dead. Here's another thing, the viewer doesn’t even have the comfort in knowing whether or not Riggs' dog lived. The last shot of the dog is when the bad guys knock Riggs out, and that is right before the revelation of Riggs' wife. Could it be the bad guys also killed the dog??!!

This is where Lethal Weapon 2 becomes the bitter-sweet film that it is. It’s no longer just a cops and bad guys flick, but a tale of revenge and despair for Martin Riggs. The tragic thing is, no matter what happens, no matter how many of the bad guys Riggs and Murtaugh kill, they will never be able to bring back the dead. In that respect, the bad guys seem to win in Lethal Weapon 2, because they did far too much damage, and whatever happens to them is beside the point.

Forget the fact that you know what happens in Lethal Weapon 3 & 4. Forget the fact that you know Joe Pesci will tell a tale involving his once best friend, who just so happened to be a bullfrog. Forget the fact that you know Riggs will end up with Rene Russo and live happily ever after. At the end of Lethal Weapon 2 you only know a few things about Martin Riggs: He will live from near fatal gun shot wounds he received by Arjenn. He is now aware of the fact that in a way he was responsible for the death of his wife (they meant to kill him), and the death of a young innocent girl (they only killed her to hurt him). Martin Riggs may have gotten the bad guys, but now he gets to mourn the deaths of all those he loved. This is where the film ends, and in my opinion, it is perhaps one of the least upbeat endings to an action movie ever. Is the viewer suppose to be happy at the end? I think many people may have forgotten what happened, and they may just be happy that Riggs and Murtaugh got the bad guys, but I don’t think the ending was intended to be happy one. In the end we see Riggs and Murtaugh, alone and in pain, and trying to laugh it away. As the film ends, the fitting tune “Cheer Down” by George Harrison plays. The song is a haunting one, because it sounds as mournful as we believe the characters should feel at that moment in time. Even the title, “Cheer Down”, is somewhat fitting to how the audience should be reacting at the end of Lethal Weapon 2. Yeah you should be cheering because Riggs and Murtaugh got the bad guys, and yes you should be down, because think of how many lives were ruined and think of how the main character Martin Riggs was destroyed in the process of doing so.

Lethal Weapon 2 is a surprisingly haunting action film that holds up and hits hard every time I watch it.