Lethal Weapon




Have you ever met anybody you didn't kill?

It started the buddy cop trend that is still running through Hollywood today. Unfortunately, Lethal Weapon hasn't aged all that well, even as it is coming up on its twentieth anniversary.

Aging cop and family man, Sergeant Murtaugh (Danny Glover), has just been assigned a new partner. Sergeant Riggs (Mel Gibson) is an energetic cop who loves his job but is having second thoughts about life. Initially his suicidal tendencies don't sit well with Murtaugh, but this is a buddy movie after all, so they of course become buddies. Oh yeah, there's something in the plot about a drug ring and mercenaries from Vietnam.

While held up as one of the best action movies ever by more than a select few, Lethal Weapon is somewhat bland by today's cut. It has its moments, and certainly there is a ready supply of gunfights, explosions and the like. But at times things get hackneyed, which includes the karate showdown on the front lawn. Richard Donner does his best to cover up or slid through the plot's messier moments, and for the most part he succeeds. But at times it is painfully obvious where Shane Black's writing talents end.

Where the movie really shines, though, is in the witty, albeit short, getting to know each other phase between the two mismatches. There are some genuine laughs, as Glover is excellently played off as the straight guy to Gibson's antics. The beginning half is when Lethal Weapon is fun, though it seems too brief. It has trouble shifting gears into a serious action flick after the first half, and it does suffer from long lapses of no real bad guys.

If you're going to make a four movie franchise, you'd better build it on solid chemistry. Fortunately that's what Gibson and Glover have, and it makes things worthwhile. This movie is what propelled the leads to superstar status, and here they earn it with a pair of commendable performances. Mel gets extra praise for pulling off both the humorous and serious sides of Riggs' suicidal feelings. Gary Busey is also pretty good, though he doesn't do much until the latter half.

Although it disappoints in more than one way, the buddy relationship between the two mostly makes up for it.



-The Gnome