“They definitely cared much more about you caring about these characters than the story at hand.”
Lethal Weapon was an action comedy buddy cop film that was released in 1987, directed by Richard Donner, written by Shane Black, and starring Mel Gibson as Riggs as well as Danny Glover as Murtaugh. It is ultimately about this wild, totally unhinged loose-cannon cop who is genuinely suicidal after his wife dies, so his bosses pair him up with a stressed-out, straight-laced veteran detective who is literally just trying to survive until retirement. The two completely clash until they’re forced to bond while blowing stuff up, taking down a massive, ruthless drug-smuggling ring run by ex-military mercenaries, and saving Murtaugh’s kidnapped daughter from getting killed.
So, it’s been years... years since I last saw this franchise, so I’m really excited to dig back in. Not too long ago, though, these characters were revamped for a Lethal Weapon TV series that lasted three years on Fox. It only really ended because they fired Riggs from his own TV show and had Murtaugh team up with someone else... apparently you don’t understand what Lethal Weapon is.
Anyway, I did like the show okay, but the films are often deemed the birth of the modern-day buddy cop film. There were films before this, but this movie kind of defined what buddy cop movies are supposed to be from here on out. You can’t really do that without the genius chemistry between Gibson and Glover, who are just magnetic together. They are funny, they’ve got each other’s backs, and there’s this great dichotomy between one who is absolutely banana sandwich crazy and one who is simply too old for this [bleep]. It’s just a fantastic pairing.
While they are both great, I do think that Mel Gibson is the MVP here. He’s got to be. He has the most character development and is the most layered out of the two of them. On the surface, he really is a fearless, crazy cop who will do everything and anything to get the job done, and nobody can trust him for it. But we learn why he is the way he is. We learn that he’s suicidal on a daily basis because of the death of his wife when he breaks down and explains it to Murtaugh. That is when we get the switch almost immediately from a partner who can’t find trust to someone who cares deeply for their partner, invites him over for dinner, and by all accounts... are brothers. It’s crazy how quick that happens, but it also feels really organic, natural, and honest. It’s a big reason why this movie works as well as it does.
Past that, this film has pretty much everything you want out of it, especially if you’re a guy. It’s got the action, which is actually really solid. It’s got the laughs, it’s got the heart, and it’s got the cast to carry it through.
If I had one main complaint about the film, it would actually be more about the story. I loved the introduction: we have a mystery where a woman who is alone in her apartment stands up, strolls to her balcony, and jumps to her death... which we later learn was a murder because she was drugged and was going to die anyway. Very cool set up. But the reason why this death happened is loosey-goosey to me. There’s way too many moving parts. It’s connected to a lady whose house blows up, which is connected to a drug ring, which is connected to connections to higher-level people... there’s all these different people and all these different locations that they keep going back to multiple times, so the why of it all kind of gets lost in the narrative. They definitely cared much more about you caring about these characters than the story at hand.
Apart from all that, did you know this was a Christmas action film? Yeah, it was. One year before Die Hard came out and took that mantle, this film was doing the exact same thing. All this death, explosions, violence, action, and wise-cracking jokes... but in Lethal Weapon instead.
I’ve always maintained Die Hard isn’t a Christmas movie, but you know what? I’ll say it: I think Lethal Weapon IS. There’s much more Christmas spirit in this one, much more music, decorations... all that. So if Die Hard was like... 20% Christmas and 80% action, Lethal Weapon is more like... 35% Christmas and 65% action. I said it. Neither are full-blown Christmas movies, but this is definitely MORE of a Christmas movie than Die Hard. Plus, Bruce Willis even said Die Hard wasn’t a Christmas movie. Let’s not forget that.
Unbiased/Technical Score: 38/50 (76%)
Biased/Entertainment Score: 43/50 (86%)
Total Combined Score: 81/100 (81% or 4/5 on Letterboxd)