If "Lethal Weapon" was a farewell to the action film era before the advent of "Die Hard" type techno-thrillers, the best and the most polished laid-back buddy-buddy flick done in the style of 70s and 80s, "Lethal Weapon 2" is its zombie reincarnation, a deconstruction of everything that was good about the first film.One could probably look at this film in its own right, and as such its a decent late 80s flick, more suited to the TV than to the big screen. But since it owes everything to the iconic predecessor, and it is a direct sequel, it has to be viewed as a cynical cash-in. As cynical as they come.Just like the "2" in the uninspired title suggests: everything is just being rehashed. Everything, minus the grit and the poignancy of the "1". All the known tropes are there and not a single catchphrase from the first film is dropped and some new have been added. Jeffrey Boam, who was hired in "Lethal Weapon" to sprinkle Shane Black's script with a bit of welcome humor is called in here to fully take the reins and write the whole thing himself without the wit and insight of Black.To maintain the merry character dynamics, the character of Riggs is still crazy, the character of Murtaugh is still fed up with everything, even though their plight was resolved in the previous film. They have also developed an uncomfortable comedic self-awareness about it ("We're bad! You're black, I'm mad"). The character of police psychologist has been reduced to a one-note joke. The villains are yet another para-militaristic bunch, this time so unconvincing in their manner of operating and existence one wonders how are they not taken down already before this film takes place. Also a lot of jokes stem from the fact that their origin is placed in the South African Republic. Apartheid and Hitler jokes, you know. Har. Har. The whole "police under siege" climax is unbelievable. No police force would just sit there like stool pigeons, waiting for the bad guys to off them one by one. Riggs and Murtaugh take the gang on by themselves just because they've done so in the first film. Hardly as exciting as it wanted to be.The worst and the most notable thing, of course, is the inclusion of the psycho midget Joe Pesci in the cast. His insufferable turn as Leo Getz is probably the producers' idea of how to make the film more accessible to a broader audience. It's a mystery to me, though. Watching it now, I cannot believe how anybody ever found Pesci funny. He's effective in the roles of psychopaths because that's what he is in real life, but comedy? "Home Alone"? Really?The rest of the cast is not much better either. Gibson is having too much fun with his character and Glover just acts like he has stomach problems. Joss Ackland and Derrick O'Connor are hamming it up to the max as the main villains, but one can hardly blame them. They know what they've got themselves into. Patsy Kensit has nailed the blonde bimbo stereotype even though that may not have been her intention. Richard Donner, the director, looks pretty out of shape even though you can't see him in any shots. His direction is pretty loose, concentrated more on the action set pieces than on the overall pace. The action scenes, as well as the toilet scene, are still good to watch but they cannot compensate for all the mistakes, including some amateur ones. There are some really awkward reaction shots of Gibson and there is a cringe-worthy on-the-nose revenge scene where Gibson shoots one of the henchmen accompanied by off-narration of the names of all the cops killed during the film."Loaded Weapon" came out four years later, and even though it's an excellent send up to this franchise, they need not have bothered. Much like "Die Hard 2" to "Die Hard", "Lethal Weapon 2" is a perfect parody of itself.

Released in 1989, "Lethal Weapon 2" stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as L.A. cop team, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh. In this sequel they team up with a witness (Joe Pesci) to take down big-league South African drug dealers who have diplomatic immunity. In the meantime Riggs romances an employee of the consulate (Patsy Kensit). Jenette Goldstein is on hand as a fellow cop.I wasn't impressed by the first 30-40 minutes, but the three main characters drew me in from there with their warm camaraderie mixed with a bit o' comedy. Like the original, this is an over-the-top, cartoony cop thriller with ludicrous James Bond-isms. You have to accept the outrageousness in order to enjoy it, just as you do with the Bond flicks and similar cop thrillers, like 1977's "The Gauntlet," although the latter's superior IMHO, as are the Dirty Harry films. While some aspects are predictable, there are a couple original and impressive parts, like the toilet sequence and the money-explosion scene. The film also scores pretty well on the babe front with Kensit and Goldstein, plus a couple others. Anyway, I marginally prefer this one to the original.The film runs 118 minutes (Director's Cut) and was shot in the greater Los Angeles area.GRADE: B

Richard Donner directs again, and Mel Gibson and Danny Glover return as LAPD partners, their relationship smoother now that Gibson's character has recovered from his maddening grief over his wife's death. But the reckless Mel and cautious Danny equation, good for a million laughs, settles into place in this story involving a South African smuggler and a new girlfriend (Patsy Kensit) for Gibson. The movie is hardly comfy, though. The last act gets nasty, and a climactic fight between Gibson (who gets the worst of it) and some high-kicking villain is ugly. The chemistry between its leads, make this a playful, entertaining sequel.Sequel Includes a smashed car full of Krugerrands, a hillside house blown off its stilts and a bomb set under a toilet, the point of Lethal Weapon 2 is that Mel Gibson and Danny Glover get to race around in all that chaos, acting crazy.If you liked Lethal Weapon, you'll like Lethal Weapon 2; it's almost as simple as that."Worse than the first, but better than the rest. it's nice to have a big-audience action movie attacking apartheid and the slaughter of sea mammals, instead of acting as an enlistment poster for the Army Air Corps, local vigilante groups or the reopening of the Vietnam War, the sentiments don't really transcend the car crashes.Pesci's terrific comic performance really gooses the proceedings, but the film also works because of its exciting action content, the presence of Patsy Kensit as Riggs' love interest, and the series-best interplay between the two lead characters. Despite the film's anti-South African stance, it was passed uncut by the South African censors and became a major financial success in that country. .The films' writer, Shane Black, walked away from this sequel after he decided to kill off the character of Martin Riggs. Warner Brothers disagreed with that decision, and he left the project.The body count is 33, the highest of the 'Lethal Weapon' series. During production, Richard Donner was shocked when Mel Gibson confided that he was drinking five pints of beer for breakfast. Despite his alcohol problems, Gibson was known for his professionalism and punctuality. In the original script, the South Africans were even more vicious. At one point, they even torture Riggs in much the same manner as Mr. Joshua in the original. Its a Strong and funny sequel but if went with original ending would be even more classic.Still its one of the finest examples of the genre its a Kick ass sequel by concentrating on the often frustrating, funny relationship between the three men, the film gains in humour but loses some of the momentum and panache which distinguished the original.Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, and Richard Donner have all stated that this is their favourite film of the Lethal Weapon series.

Soon after finding one million dollars of South African currency in a crashed BMW, Riggs and Murtaugh are assigned to keep an eye on Leo Getz, who is scheduled to testify in a case. But Arjen Rudd, the minister of diplomatic affairs for South Africa, doesn't want Leo to testify. Rudd turns out to be the man that Riggs and Murtaugh were after in the case they were working on before Leo was placed in their custody, which doesn't look very promising when Leo is kidnapped by Rudd's men. In a confrontation with Rudd's right hand man, Riggs is told the true circumstances behind the death of his wife, and this sends Riggs over the edge once more.......The essence of Lethal 2 is more of the same, but bigger, louder, and more comic book. And seeing that this took the biggest film of 1989 off the top of the U.S. box office, it's clear that Silver and co. were on to a winner.As with the first film, this relies on rich dialogue and wonderful set pieces to win over the audience, rather than narrative.It starts as it means to go on, with a brilliant and funny opener, and after a wonderful break from the action, featuring Murtaugh's daughter in a commercial, the film goes a little darker in tone, and the writers add a wonderful dimension to Riggs with the revelation concerning his wife's demise.It's a rollicking action movie, nothing more and outside of the Murtaugh extended network, the rest of the characters are just your action movie stereotypes.But it still has the best bathroom scene ever...