People in the Movie: Danny Glover, Mel Gibson, Joe Pesci
Director: Richard Donner
Pigeonhole: Action / Buddy-Cop
The Basics: Riggs (Gibson) and Murtaugh (Glover) are back, taking on a group of South African drug dealers, this time. What makes this case tough is that the “bad guys” all happen to be diplomats and subsequently are protected by their immunity to local laws. Adding to this mess, Riggs and Murtaugh end up with a federal witness to protect, Leo Getz (Pesci), while still trying to complete their investigation. This installment has a much more comical tone than the first film, but does not lack for gunfire, car chases, destruction, and general mayhem.
Recommendation: A decent sequel, with (still) a good mix of action scenes and story. As I noted this movie has a borderline comical undertone, so it seems “lighter” than subject material. There a lot of one-liners, while serious scenes seem to wait for a punch-line, and therefore the movie does not seem as believable.
If you like: the previous movie, Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Richard Donner films – you will like this one. It can stand alone, as well, for anyone who did not see the first. “R” rating is for violence, language, nudity.
My Take: **spoiler alert** A “worth the price of admission” movie, but not much more. The 2 main bad guys are played by Joss Ackland, as the “boss” named Arjen Rudd and Derrick O’Connor playing Pieter Vorstead, the right-hand man/thug. They both are believable, and pull off Dutch sounding accents. O’Connor seemed just a bit too old to be as good a fighter as was portrayed when he fights Riggs near the end of the film.
Pesci plays Leo Getz, a bumbling money launderer who decided to testify against a drug gang in federal court, after they put a contract on him for stealing their hard-earned drug money. And, what a coincidence, the drug gang - it’s the South Africans- Riggs and Murtaugh are already investigating. Pesci is good for comic relief, but little else.
The movies unfolds with some antics mixed with a little seriousness, including a fake protest at the South African consulate, and Riggs getting romantically involved with the South African consulate secretary. Their relationship doesn’t end well, if you were wondering. The peak of the action is the bad guys putting a “hit” out on all the cops; they kill all of the homicide detectives in the squad, except for Riggs and Murtaugh. Predictably Riggs and Murtuagh “go rogue” and kill all of the South Africans.
Final Thought/Extras/For Fun: This the second of four Lethal Weapon films, to date…The body was reported at 33, highest of the LW movies…Riggs was reportedly supposed to die at the end of this movie after being shot, the producer deciding/wanting to make more movies allowed him to live…
No comments:
Post a Comment