Lethal Weapon 2 - Brennpunkt L.A.

The first point I found interesting is that it was evident they used real South Africans as extras in the film. In one scene one of the extras called out "Jou Moer" to our intrepid heroes.

"Jou Moer" translates into English, quite unmistakenly, as "You C*nt". As this was still in it, years later, when I just saw it for the second time, I feel that nobody in America check unidentified words for their true meaning.

This has given many South Africans high amusement over the years and they may not be well disposed towards me for spilling the beans.

Another thing was that Patsy Kensit played the part of an Afrikaaner (A Dutch descent South African and, whilst an English descent South African might say she (or he) hates his country, an Afrikaaner would never say that. He or she might say they hate the government but they would NEVER say they hate their country.

But apart from that, a good film, and it gave me so much amusement to see they hadn't cut out the offending word.

From an English rooinek.

Andrew

Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) are back. The movie opens with the cops in hot pursuit of some drugs. It ends up with a big action chase and a helicopter to fly the bad guys away. The bad guys are South African and they threaten Murtaugh and his family. So the captain gives them an easy job babysitting a witness Leo Getz (Joe Pesci) who turns out to have laundered around half a billion dollar worth of drug money. And somebody immediately tries to kill him.

The chemistry is still great for the two guys. The car chase scene right off the bat only highlights their relationship. Joe Pesci adds a fun comedic element into this duo. This is energetic fun. It's funny, and it has good action. The only thing off is the South African bad guy. He is too much like a Bond villain. That's a different franchise.

Many action flicks over the years have been called loud and dumb. This is no exception. The "Lethal Weapon" series has never been especially noted for its intellect but it has something that a lot of action films lack: heart. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover's winning chemistry created some of the most tender moments in the series and "Lethal Weapon 2" excels because they make the audience care about their characters. This movie is by far the best in the series with tones of moments registering directly to the viewer. Gibson and Glover provide these characters with depth that could easily have been lacking and the ending of this film leaves the audience actually feeling the love these two men have for each other. And, as a bonus, "Lethal Weapon 2" digs even deeper into one of the protagonist's past, shedding even more light as to why he is the way he is.

Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

The first half hour of this movie is such an empty mixture of very fast chase scenes and some dull talking between supposed bad guys you might not get to the final hour which is fun and funny and as good (in a way) as the first Lethal Weapon from two years earlier. Same cast, same crew, same assets.

The problem at first is partly that we don't know who the bad guys are. We have no reason to fear or hate them. We just know that Mel and Danny have to be in on some new awful crime situation. That requires faith, so okay, we keep watching. The opening chase is highly kinetic and violent and spectacular, if you like that kind of thing. It is also a heads up for a couple scenes later that are also really spectacular —a ridiculous machine gun festival from a helicopter (if they have helicopters that have rocket grenades and boom, that's that), and a really ridiculous yanking down of a spectacular building with a GMC pickup truck (an amazing highlight of the movie).

Yeah, it's a wonderful mixed bag. By the end I was loving it the way you love things like this—not as film studies, but as a lowbrow good time. There are some classic scenes, also ridiculous—like the great toilet one—and some filler, of course, but it clicks along and is a worthy sequel. If you liked the first, you'll like the second.

However, it's worth saying the first one has an elegance at times that makes it not just more artful (who cares?) but more compelling. Just the way the first scene is handled (in the first movie) makes you want to know what's happening, and you worry about the next few scenes because of the first one. Here, it's more a continuation of affection—which means you might have to see the first one before this, in case you haven't!

First of all this movie is almost as good as the original. It retains all of the elements that made the first film so darn entertaining and adds some new elements.

As all actors from the first movie appear in the second one as well its pretty clear what you can expect acting wise and surprise, surprise: The acting is still stellar, close to perfection. Mel Gibson is always good and in the second installment of the series he gets to be a little more wild and add even more nuances to the character. For example we get to see Riggs hit on women which adds an entire new side to him as the side we saw in the first film was of him mourning. Also we find out how his wife dies in a beautifully underacted scene (if you want to know how she dies you'll have to see the movie). Danny Glover returns as well and he plays the character pretty much as he did in the first film which is good because the character he plays is the one who is not supposed to change. He is meant to be square and combined with the character of Riggs this becomes highly entertaining. However, a new element is put into the mix to make it even more entertaining, Leo Getz, played beautifully by Joe Pesci and is to this day still one of his most memorable characters. He is funny and fast talking but most importantly: he is a crook and when you put him together with Riggs and Murtaugh the mix becomes explosive. The main villains are played by Joss Ackland and Derrick O'Connor and they are also good and a bit more developed than the villains of the first movie obviously because they had to focus more on the relationship between Riggs and Murtaugh in the first movie. Riggs' love interest is played Patsy Kensit and she is good if a bit underdeveloped.

The story is excellent and is almost better than the story in the first one. It is entertaining and funny and best of all the incredible chemistry between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover is maintained and is almost as good as it was in the first movie. Furthermore the addition of Joe Pesci was a very nice touch because he immediately makes the scenes with him, Gibson and Glover even more interesting and entertaining. The plot with the villains is kept relatively simple like in the first film, which is good because the goal for the film is entertainment not to be thought provoking.

The action of the film is kept in the same style as in the first movie and it is still both exhilarating and entertaining. The effects are still relatively realistic and this of course gives the movie a level of credibility that is sorely needed in many modern action movies.

All in all a worthy sequel and an excellent film on its own.

8/10