Lethal Weapon 2
Sometimes the original intentions of the screenwriter can be (through the trial and error of Hollywood rewrites, actor improvs, and directorâs changes) diluted to the point where even that very same screenwriter will state that he longer recognizes the finished product. Shane Black was one such writer who in 1987 sold his very first script in the form of Lethal Weapon. Black obviously intended his script to be amongst the hardest edged of action movies, a story about an obviously crazed, suicidal, ex Special Forces commando turned LA cop who found for himself the challenge of a lifetime in the form of an organized heroin smuggling ring who themselves were ALSO ex Special Forces guys, now waging a war of good vs evil in the streets of Los Angeles with the twist being that all the villains had known of the reputation of Mel Gibsonâs Martin Riggs as being the one ultra badass that you did NOT want to mess with. Black envisioned this concept (ex military elites engaging in both crime and law enforcement in our own society) as something that could sustain a whole entire movie franchise, but Hollywood (after paying Black off handsomely and extending him full credit) had other ideas, not only in beefing up the character of Danny Gloverâs Roger Murtaugh to co star equally with Gibson as his partner, but also by showing how Riggsâ redemption came to be in the way that his acceptance by Murtaughâs loving family both calmed and humanized him rather than by having him destroy those who like him were once in the military industrial complex but now were responsible for the spreading of evil (namely heroin) in our society. As a result, the bad guys (a major component of Blackâs script) had their roles and overall significance cut back despite being led by Gary Busey and the emphasis was put instead on Murtaugh and Riggsâ partnership and Riggsâ relationship with The Murtaugh Family. Nonetheless, there remained enough of the suicidal loner angle through Gibsonâs brilliant performance in the first film to keep things as serious and tense as possible within the story. When it came time to do Part 2, Black was given first crack at the script, at first pitching a prequel called Shadow Company that would show the exploits of young Riggs in Vietnam (along with original bad guys Mr. Joshua and General McAllister) but that was quickly rejected. Black then wrote up a straight sequel that carried the basic storyline of the final film but concluded with Riggs dying in order to save Murtaugh and his family (in almost a subtle revenge by Black for the changes made to his Part 1) and while that certainly didnât happen (although we get a cruel tease for it complete with using the song Knockin On Heavenâs Door), Black was paid and credited while the story (and indeed the entire franchise) would have its tone changed almost entirely mostly at the behest of returning director Richard Donner to being that of an almost light hearted action comedy with Gibson and Glover constantly arguing and fighting amongst themselves with a new sidekick (and new series regular) thrown in the mix in the form of Joe Pesci as Leo Getz, a Federal Witness mob accountant whom the duo takes great pleasure in slapping around almost as if he were the third Stooge. With this would begin the tradition of adding in a new regular character every time out (the Lethal âfamilyâ) while mostly deemphasizing the actual crime stories in favor of the humor (including Riggsâ fixation with The Three Stooges) but the shift in tone here is just so abrupt from the first movie that itâs quite jarring with a goofball Riggs just not being as interesting as the edgy Riggs whom we had first met in Part 1 (though the shift would level off somewhat in Part 3). The sequel starts off badly with the viewers finding themselves in the middle of a car chase going on as Riggs whoops and hollers just like a big kid having fun as Murtaugh behind the wheel tries to focus on driving his wifeâs new car on the job. Turns out the bad guys here are South African diplomats who obviously (with Murtaugh on the case) are completely flaming racists, being that they hail from a country that (in 1989) was in turmoil over their ridiculous Apartheid policies that kept the blacks (the majority) out of any sort of power, rights or status in favor of White minority (money) rule. Of course, within a couple of years of the filmâs release, Apartheid would come to an end, Nelson Mandela would be elected President and this particular filmâs lasting impact would be reduced to just about nothing as it became dated almost immediately, but still the filmâs serious / comedic approach to the South Africa political landscape even then seemed a bit too topical and unwieldy for an 80s action film with the lead villain being played by Joss Ackland, long known for playing minor bad guy roles in smaller movies and even though he brings that B movie hamminess to the fore, he is just not suitable to be the main bad guy in a major action franchise such as this, occupying an office more suited to a Bond villain and raising his voice whenever he wishes to appear imposing. His main henchman is Derrick OâConnor, for whom it seems his only qualification for being a bad guy is that he is very tall until we learn of an important connection that he has in Riggsâ past later on. Neither of them could have carried the movie as the main bad guys (and they donât have to, but then again Busey could have done with some more screen time in Part 1) and with the awkward political overtones of the story, it almost seems at times that the only thing that makes them bad guys and Riggs and Murtaugh being on their cases is in the fact that they are racist South African diplomats who promote a racist agenda if not for a couple of random points along the way embedded in the dialogue where we are told (but are never directly shown) that these guys are actually also drug dealers as they hide behind the status of diplomatic immunity in order to carry out their âcrimesâ and actually possess the authority to order the cops off of their property even when they seemingly have them dead to rights (although why they would be so concerned with a âfederal witnessâ like Pesci who has laundered and stolen their money when their immunity protects them from being arrested or prosecuted and they seemingly can simply just leave the country anytime they want if the shit gets too hot is beyond me). On the plus side, Pesci IS funny and sort of lovable as he gets more involved with our heroes (which again changes things from Blackâs script where his more slimy version of Getz had only one scene and a few lines) which sets him up as the recurring comic side character in the films to come (which doesnât change the fact that Leo Getz is basically a guy with criminal connections whoâs willing to snitch if it benefits him) and the goofball antics of Murtaughâs home life continue to be the comfort food of the franchise. But watching Riggs play himself off as being just so damn jolly and jovial all the time (no surprise since Gibson was piss drunk all through filming) when the first movie portrayed him as someone that even the viewer would fear if they met him in a dark alley makes him that much less fascinating as a character study. Granted, the script does provide him with a âtrigger mechanismâ in the last 20 minutes that makes him revert back to kill crazy psycho mode for the final showdown with those nasty racist bastards whom we are told are dealing drugs, but these bad guys are so poorly written that a lot of the impact that could have been there is lost, reducing everything to a matter of just having Riggs tear it all down to the ground before cutting to the end credits and gearing up for Part 3. Admittedly, there is a certain portion of the Lethal Weapon fanbase who adores this entry so much that it is considered by them to be better than the first (and amongst the heated summer blockbuster season of 1989 where it thrived, it might simply be because many thought that it had âdeliveredâ), but it also rerouted the entire ship creatively speaking from being the most hardcore action series on the planet to being more of a high quality, high budget 80s TV cop show in cinematic form especially when it would settle down in the next sequel and not be so all over the place in terms of its story and its constant attempts to make a suicidal badass into a friendly, fluffy guy who only has to take the bad guys down in brutal, violent fashion when absolutely necessaryâŚ
5/10