I enjoy action movies when they are well done and entertaining. Lethal Weapon is a very entertaining movie that I still enjoy when I watch it. The movie is one of the better action movies I have seen and is one of the best of the buddy cop movies. The movie was so successful that it led to three sequels.
Shortly before Christmas, a young woman named Amanda jumped off a balcony after doing drugs. Roger Murtaugh started investigating and then discovered that he knew Amanda’s father. Roger was assigned a younger partner, Martin Riggs, to work with. Martin had become a loose cannon after his wife’s unexpected death and he frequently jumped into dangerous situations like he was hoping he would be killed. The two men didn’t get along and Roger was not happy to be working with Martin. They started to uncover new things connected to the case, discovering it was more complicated than it first looked. They slowly started to develop a working relationship.
There was a bit of mystery in Lethal Weapon connected to Amanda’s death. It seemed very clear cut at first, but it quickly became known that there was a lot more going on. The first indication that things were more complicated was that Roger knew Amanda’s father and he had been trying to contact Roger before Amanda died. Even though Roger and Martin weren’t really happy about working together, they did give attention to the case and started to slowly discover other things. The mystery wasn’t really complicated, but it did help to keep things interesting and kept me wondering exactly how everything would work out. Roger and Martin also dealt with a few different cases that weren’t connected to Amanda. Those few other cases helped to share a bit more about the characters.
Lethal Weapon had a decent amount of action scenes that added to the overall plot without distracting from it. There weren’t random explosions or fights added in for no reason like seems to happen in many of the newer action movies. There were a few chases, including one later in the movie that had Martin chasing a car on foot. That wasn’t exactly believable, but it was thrilling to watch. Several characters were shooting throughout the movie, and some people were injured. Martin used some kind of martial arts a couple of times. The violence that turned up in a few scenes really didn’t get too graphic. One torture scene was a bit extreme, but it is mild compared to what has been done in many newer movies. The violence and swearing that many characters did caused the movie to be rated R, so parents should check it out before letting their children watch that version. It is edited when it airs on television.
Much of Lethal Weapon focused on the growing working relationship and eventual friendship between Martin and Roger. They did not like each other when they first met, but they kept working on the investigation and found a way to work together. Roger really wasn’t sure what to think of Martin, especially after the way Martin dealt with a man on a roof. There were a lot of interesting dynamics between the two men and they had believable chemistry together. That really helped to make the movie entertaining and successful. It did seem like they got past their differences and became friends a little quick, but it worked overall.
Christmas played a part in Lethal Weapon even though it wasn’t the main focus of the movie. Jingle Bell Rock played over the opening credits and the movie started not to long before Christmas. Decorations were around in the backgrounds of many scenes and a few Christmas songs were used. I do consider this to be an unconventional Christmas like Die Hard and Die Hard 2: Die Harder. They are far from traditional, family friendly Christmas movies, but they do feature the holiday.
Martin and Roger were the main characters and received most of the development since one or both was usually around. Martin was considered a liability around the department because he was struggling to deal with the death of his wife Victoria. It wasn’t just that he was still grieving. He was embracing danger every chance he got and didn’t care if he lived or died so no one wanted to work with him. Mel Gibson was wonderful in the part. He had a very believable crazed look on his face in certain scenes.
Roger was older and more reserved in how he handled situations connected to work. He clashed with Martin more than once because of their different styles. He was happily married to Trish and had three children. He was very protective of his children. Danny Glover handled the part well and made Roger a believable character. Trish was shown in a few scenes without much beyond the fact that she was a bad cook shared about her. Rianne, their oldest daughter, stood out a little more than the other kids since she was around a little more.
General Peter McAllister was involved in the case Roger and Martin were working on. Peter was the mastermind behind something who tended to sit back and order others to do the dirty work. Mitchell Ryan was really good in the part which was completely different from the part I was use to seeing him play on Dharma and Greg. Mr. Joshua worked for Peter and did a lot of different things. Mr. Joshua was unquestioningly loyal and a very chilling character. He was a very good, effective villain. Gary Busey was wonderful in the part.
Main Cast
Gary Busey - Mr. Joshua Mel Gibson - Martin Riggs Danny Glover Roger Murtaugh Damon Hines - Nick Murtaugh Darlene Love - Trish Murtaugh Mitchell Ryan - General Peter McAllister Ebonie Smith - Carrie Murtaugh Traci Wolf - Rianne Murtaugh
Richard Donner - Director
DVD Information
Lethal Weapon is available on DVD in a few different versions. I have the one that also contains the second and third Lethal Weapon movies. The movie was in the widescreen format and had only a couple of extras. I’m not sure if any of the other versions of the DVD have more extras or not. I believe there is also a set that has all four of the movies together.
Lethal Weapon is a very entertaining action movie that is one of the better buddy cop movies. I also consider it to be a non traditional Christmas movie since it is set around Christmas and several holiday things turn up throughout the movie.
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