Plot
Riggs and Murtaugh are on the trail of South African diplomats who are using their immunity to engage in criminal activities.
Release Year: 1989
Rating: 7.1/10 (62,684 voted)
Critic's Score: 70/100
Director:
Richard Donner
Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci
Storyline Riggs and Murtaugh are at it again in this sequel to the original Lethal Weapon in 1987. When a red BMW crashes while they are chasing it, they discover the trunk is full of South African Krugerands. Their boss assigns them to protect a federal witness named Leo Getz to try and keep them out of trouble. When the witness reveals he has been doing business with South Africans, the story evolves into a fast moving chase.
Writers: Jeffrey Boam, Shane Black
Cast: Mel Gibson
-
Martin Riggs
Danny Glover
-
Roger Murtaugh
Joe Pesci
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Leo Getz
Joss Ackland
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Arjen Rudd
Derrick O'Connor
-
Pieter Vorstedt
Patsy Kensit
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Rika Van Den Haas
Darlene Love
-
Trish Murtaugh
Traci Wolfe
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Rianne Murtaugh
Steve Kahan
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Captain Murphy
Mark Rolston
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Hans
Jenette Goldstein
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Meagan Shapiro
Dean Norris
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Tim Cavanaugh
Juney Smith
-
Tom Wyler
Nestor Serrano
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Eddie Estaban
Philip Suriano
-
Joseph Ragucci
Taglines:
Je conduis. Non, je conduis. [canada]
Release Date: 7 July 1989
Filming Locations: 2nd Street Tunnel between Hill and Figueroa, Los Angeles, California, USA
Opening Weekend: $20,388,800
(USA)
(9 July 1989)
(1803 Screens)
Trivia:
The scene where Mel Gibson attaches cables to the stilts of a mountain-top home and pulls it down cost over $500,000.
Goofs:
Factual errors:
People with diplomatic immunity do not have automatic carte-blanche to commit any crime without punishment. If a person with diplomatic immunity commits a crime, law enforcement has to contact the host country, then the diplomat either has his immunity revoked for trial or gets deported back to his/her own country to face consequences there. Arjen Rudd would certainly face (at best) life in prison after shooting a cop in cold blood: the South African government would give him up rather than face an international incident.
Quotes: Martin Riggs:
Police! Open up! Leo Getz:
How do I know it's the police? Martin Riggs:
After I shoot you through the door, you can examine the bullet. Open up!
User Review
Quite possibly one of the best sequels of all time...
Rating:
"Lethal Weapon 2" is the type of sequel you don't screw with, for fear
of getting seriously beat up if you do. Luckily the praise comes as
easily as the film is good -- and boy, is it good.
If you haven't seen "Lethal Weapon" (1987), get off your computer, drop
that Cheez-It out of your hand, rush to your closest video outlet and
buy it. If you have seen it, then drop that Cheez-It out of your hand,
rush to your closest video outlet and buy the sequel, "Lethal Weapon
2." It's a real ball-breaker, a bruiser, the type of film where the
heroes get beat up mercilessly but when they get mad, boy are they mad,
and they tear apart everything in their path that is standing in their
way. There's a particular shoot-out scene aboard a docked ship where
Riggs (Mel Gibson) goes on a rampage and really kicks butt with a
vengeance.
But I think I'm getting ahead of myself.
The film opens with a high-speed car chase on a freeway in Downtown LA.
Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) are in hot pursuit,
tearing up Murtaugh's wife's brand-new car as they chase the speeder
through an underground tunnel, up a bridge, and so on and so forth.
When they finally catch the speeder they find African gold hidden in
the back of his truck. Soon they are being threatened to stay off of
the case by African diplomats, one of whom Riggs really enjoys
annoying. They can't arrest them because of diplomatic immunity, so
Riggs goes in and shoots up the place where they're staying.
Riggs finds himself a new girl (Patsy Kensit), while Murtaugh protects
a federal witness named Leo Getz (Joe Pesci), a lovable little
blabbermouth who likes being one of the cops. He waddles around
throughout the film like a little eager puppy, ready to do anything
he's told. Of course Riggs and Murtaugh pick on him throughout the
movie, but their friendship is a sort of love-to-hate, explained in
"Lethal Weapon 4" (1997).
What a hard action movie/sequel this is. I had heard nothing very
positive about this movie until right before I saw it. I sat down,
watched it directly after I watched "Lethal Weapon," and realized just
how great of a sequel it really is. It's not repetitive -- it continues
the character progression and friendship seen at the end of "Lethal
Weapon," while at the same time adding a bit more humor than the first
film.
One of the things I praise about the first "Lethal Weapon" movie is
that the characters didn't just suddenly agree to like each other at
the end of the movie like so many films. They gradually learned to
trust each other throughout the film, adding a sense of true friendship
and realism to the film. In "Lethal Weapon 2," the friendship between
Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh is definitely expanded more to the
point where they're best buddies. Most of the time when there is a
sequel to a cop-buddy film, the directors and writers are afraid to
continue the friendship. They seem to forget the end of the original
film, and in the second film the characters hate each other again and
the progress of friendship starts all over again. (As seen in such
films as "Another 48 Hrs.")
But "Lethal Weapon 2" is brave -- it isn't afraid to continue the
story. I think that might be part of what makes it such a great,
well-rounded series. It never really repeats itself, it always seems
eager to move forward and ignore the past. The first film was a
humorous, hard cop-buddy film about two opposites learning to trust
each other. The second movie is a continuation of their friendship. The
third film is almost a full-out comedy. And the fourth film is a
tribute to the first three. Darn good film-making here.
"Lethal Weapon 2" is quite possibly one of the best sequels of all
time. It avoids repetitions, it avoids cop-buddy clichés, and when it
all comes down to it, Mel Gibson and Danny Glover and Joe Pesci are
such an amazing trio, that even if this film did follow the routine
procedures I'd still love it. And you can't say that about many movies.
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