Lethal Weapon 2

Not sure if this is really a sequel or a remake.

More drug shipments, more shooting people without consequences, more destruction of Murtaugh's home, another swimming-pool battle, and poor Riggs has to face up to the loss of his wife all over again.

Not to mention the two leads' continued ineptitude at their jobs. Just how many times do they leave the witness who they're supposed to be protecting alone in the car? When Getz is finally kidnapped, you can't really empathise with Murtaugh's anguish.

It's more aimed at comedy than the first film, and the type of comedy that it's going for is pantomime. Many of these scenes seem to be self-contained sketches in their own right, most notably the one when Murtaugh pretends to apply for residency in South Africa. Joss Ackland, as the villain, camps the whole thing up, and successfully creates an ogre who you really want to see shot and killed at the end.

When I saw this at the cinema in 1989, I had a real problem with the legal repercussions of Murtaugh's final execution of him though, and twenty years later, I still do.

Fun entry though.

Review of Lethal Weapon here
Review of Lethal Weapon 3 here
Review of Lethal Weapon 4 here