The Problem with Lethal Weapon 2

https://dejareviewer.com/2016/10/11/the-problem-with-lethal-weapon-2/

In addition to its overall sense of “been there, done that,” here are a few other things that keep Lethal Weapon 2 from being a great film in my eyes.

Riggs’ Revenge

The coincidence of Martin Riggs’ wife being killed by a South African bad guy is acceptable in the context of this film’s plot because it gives Riggs a reason to really hate the guy and want to seek revenge on him in particular. But I find it detrimental to Riggs’ growth as a character in the first film. It was much more interesting for Riggs to find solace through his friendship with Roger Murtaugh than resorting to the tired trope of killing his wife’s murderer to achieve catharsis. I thought he had already moved on from his wife’s murder. This sequel didn’t need to dig up the past to try to make its climax more emotional. They had already done that masterfully in the first one.

Also, I’d just like to say that Riggs acting crazy in this film never comes across as genuine the way it did in the first film. I know, he’s moved past his suicidal tendencies and it’s great to see him being more confident in the direction he’s chosen for his life. Plus, the “Eeny, meeny, miny. Hey, Moe!” line is a stroke of genius. But overall, the halfhearted attempts to remind us that Riggs is still potentially crazy fall flat. Again, I thought he had moved past that phase.

Anticlimactic Chases

The big chase scenes at the start and in the middle of the film seem like they should be more exciting than they actually are. They come across as run-of-the-mill rather than edge-of-your-seat. Each time I watch them I keep waiting for something really thrilling to happen, but they just kind of unfold in a pretty mundane fashion. And they end so abruptly that they don’t have time to build to a natural climax.

RoboCop Did It Better

Lethal Weapon 2 has a famous ending where Murtaugh shoots the South African ambassador, claiming that his diplomatic immunity has “just been revoked.” But that doesn’t really make for a satisfying conclusion to this problem. Sure, the bad guy is dead, but at what cost? It’s still going to be an international incident. I thought the whole point of his “diplomatic immunity” trump card was that it was far too politically damaging to risk killing him. To solve it by simply shooting him and offering a funny quip feels cheap.

To see this kind of thing done masterfully, look no further than 1987’s RoboCop. Dick Jones has been lording the whole Directive 4 thing over RoboCop’s head since the two first met. RoboCop can’t kill Jones because he’s a leader of OCP. His programming forbids it, and he can’t just override it or ignore it. Thankfully, the film doesn’t cheat its way out of this dilemma, but finds a creative and satisfying solution to it that not only lets RoboCop kill the bad guy, but also strips Jones of his pride and authority just before sending him out the window of a high-rise building.

A Decent Sequel, But Nothing Moe

The problem is that Lethal Weapon 2 has all the trappings of a great ‘80s action film without actually being one. Its heroes are relatable, its villains are totally hate-able, but its appeal is unfortunately debatable. Maybe it’s the fact that it feels like a watered-down version of other better action films that is its biggest detriment. Each time I watch this film I find it has less to offer while, as Riggs might say, I just want “Moe!”