The Lethal Weapon Anthology: A Review of "Lethal Weapon 2"

So we've got the dark, brooding, action, buddy-cop movie in Lethal Weapon that created quite a legendary flick. More so than a lot of flicks that had come out at the time. More memorable duos would come and go, but Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh became one of the first and most lovable duos. Their side characters would even get promoted to being far more memorable characters too, as Murtaugh's family would all be played by the same actors & actresses for all four films. That takes some commitment. But while the Murtaugh family and Martin Riggs were becoming memorable characters in American pop-culture, a sequel would develop and release in 1989 that would introduce another two memorable characters, the likes of witch where interesting new spins on pre-used ideas; Joe Pesci as an eye-witness under Federal protection, Leo Getz (Whatever you need, Leo Getz... get it?) and Joss Ackland as the villainous South African apartheid supporter, Arjen Rudd. Lethal Weapon 2 was another stone-cold action classic upon release, and let's dive in and take a look at how this sequel easily contended, arguable even topped the first film.

Lady, please. This movie is rated-R. Cover yourself up.

Two years after the events of the first film, LAPD sergeants Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) are pursuing unidentified suspects transporting an illegal shipment of gold krugerrands. What are krugerrands besides something really hard for us dumbass Americans to say? A South African coin first minted in 1967. The Afrikaner apartheid government of South Africa subsequently orders Los Angeles consul-general Arjen Rudd (Joss Ackland) and security agent Pieter Vorstedt (Derrick O'Connor) to warn both detectives off the investigation; they are reassigned to protecting an obnoxious federal witness, Leo Getz (Joe Pesci), after an attack on Murtaugh's home.

It soon becomes clear that both cases are related: After an attempt on Leo's life in which Riggs has to dive out of a window to save him, Riggs and Murtaugh learn of the former's murky past laundering money for vengeful drug smugglers. Leo leads them to the gang, but upon dispatching his would-be assassin and returning with backup they are confronted by Rudd, who invokes diplomatic immunity on behalf of his unscrupulous "associates." Diplomatic immunity, as put in the film, simply means that the officers "could not even give" Ackland's character Rudd "a parking ticket". Which, I mean, you wonder why more ambassadors from foreign lands with angry citizens visit other countries more often. The way this guy is going around, toting his Afrikaner ID and saying he's immune means he could probably kick some old lady off of a bridge or something and get away with it. I love diplomatic immunity.

Usually I laugh when I'm sitting on top of
high explosives, too.

Though instructed to leave the case alone, Riggs begins to openly harass the South African consulate, defying Rudd and romancing his secretary, Rika van den Haas (Patsy Kensit), a liberal-minded Afrikaner who despises her boss and his racial philosophy. Vorstedt is dispatched to murder all of the officers investigating them while Murtaugh deduces that Rudd is attempting to ship funds from his smuggling ring in the United States to Cape Town via Los Angeles Harbor. Two assassins attack Murtaugh at his home, but he kills them in the ensuing fight, though Leo is abducted in the process. This sequence of events also holds one of my all-time favorite moments in the entire Lethal Weapon franchise as well as one of the most well-known action movie moments ever; when Roger Murtaugh's toilet is rigged to blow... resulting in the infamous "toilet bomb". It's a pretty tense scene with bomb squad officials and LAPD guys filling the Murtaugh's house and lawn while Riggs pulls Roger into a cast-iron tub to narrowly avoid a toilet explosion. Wild stuff.

Mel Gibson trying desperately to shove that hair
underneath a common household ball cap.

After killing many of the investigating LAPD officers that Riggs and Murtaugh work with, Vorstedt seizes Riggs at van den Haas' apartment and discloses that he was responsible for the death of Martin's wife years earlier during a botched assassination attempt on Riggs. He succeeds in drowning Rika, but a vengeful Riggs manages to escape, dislocating his shoulder to escape his harness and swim back to the surface before drowning himself. That's another thing I forgot to mention; Lethal Weapon 2 starts the trend of Riggs dislocating his shoulder and popping it back into place in order to get himself out of sticky situations. He phones Murtaugh, declaring an intention to pursue Rudd and avenge his wife, Rika, and their fallen friends; the other policeman willingly forsakes his badge to aid his partner. After rescuing Leo and destroying Rudd's house, they head for the Alba Varden, Rudds' freighter docked in the Port of Los Angeles, as the South Africans prepare their getaway with hundreds of millions in drug money.

While investigating a guarded 40 foot cargo container at the docks, Riggs and Murtaugh are locked inside by Rudd's men. They break out of the box, scattering two pallets of Rudd's drug money into the harbor in the process. Riggs and Murtaugh engage in a firefight with some of Rudd's men aboard the Alba Varden before separating to hunt down Rudd. Riggs confronts and fights Vorstedt hand-to-hand, culminating when Riggs stabs Vorstedt with his own knife and crushes him by dropping a cargo container on him. The fight's pretty brutal, with Vorstedt using spin-kicks and superior technique to overwhelm Riggs and then knifing him and dragging him around the boat. Rudd retaliates by shooting Riggs in the back multiple times with an antique Broomhandle Mauser pistol. As Murtaugh takes aim to kill Rudd, he claims "Diplomatic immunity!" in the movie's pivotal moment, and in the commonly spoofed and tributed response, Murtaugh kills Rudd with a single shot from his revolver, spouting that "it's just been revoked". He then tends to Riggs, sharing a laugh with him as more LAPD personnel respond to the scene to clean up.

I know you all say it with him when you get to this part:
"DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITYYYYY"

Lethal Weapon 2, as I said, is a movie that arguably tops the first movie in the series. It's got memorable action moments, great dialogue, very moving chemistry between characters, and that Lethal Weapon wit starts to seep through with the inclusion of Joe Pesci as Leo Getz. There's a memorable and hilarious scene where Leo goes on one of his many "They fuck you" tangents. He has one in each film from here on out, and this one is in regards to drive-thrus and why you should never use them. Joss Ackland is a terrific bad guy, and it really says something about how great of an actor he was because he also played a very memorable and warming good guy in The Mighty Ducks, as Hans the hockey shop owner and Gordon's mentor. Being one of the last great action movies of the 1980s, released in the summer of 1989, it was paving the way for changing tastes, but what we get next... once again, is arguably even better. I love Lethal Weapon 2, just as much as I love Lethal Weapon. Both solid, A+ films in my opinion. Check in later on for when we talk about the introduction of more great characters and chemistry next time...

I Like Bad Movies: A Review of "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle"

I've been wanting to do a review like this for a long time. Basically speaking, I'm kind of a film snob. Almost to the point that it's off-putting. Well maybe I'm at that point, I have no idea. The only thing I know is that there are bad movies and there are good movies. There are movies perceived by the public to be monumental blockbuster cornerstones and then there are movies that the public singles out as common household tripe not worth the overpriced admission ticket to get you into the movie theater in the first place. I'm here to start two new different series' on this blog: "I Like Bad Movies", which will take a look at commonly-perceived awful movies that I actually love, but also on the opposite side of things, "I Hate Good Movies", which will take a look at commonly worshiped movies that I just can't stand. I hope these both will take off and we will have lots of fun with each other... I don't know why, but that was worded poorly. I'm sorry. Ignoring that bout of verbal diarrhea, let's get rolling. I'll give you one of each to kick both series' off. So first up, let's do "I Like Bad Movies" and take a look at what many consider to be a CGI-adapted abomination of a beloved 60's cartoon: 2000's The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle: A movie that teaches us it's okay to come off like a steaming pile of garbage if your humor is so-next level that nobody else gets it.

No kidding; even parodies Taxi Driver in this movie.

For those of you uncultured enough not to know, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends was the blanket title for an American animated television series that originally aired from November 1959 to June 1964 on the ABC and NBC television networks. That's right, you couldn't even fit this show's run inside of JFK's presidential term. Rocky and Bullwinkle was known for quality writing and wry humor. Mixing puns, cultural and topical satire, and self-referential humor, it appealed to adults as well as children. The art had a very choppy, unpolished and downright unholy look and the animation was extremely limited, even by television animation standards at the time. Somehow, against the odds, the series had long been held in high esteem by those who have seen it; some critics described the series as a well-written radio program with pictures... which is a very "old timey" description if you ask me. They probably got the inventor of radio to describe it as that. There have been numerous feature film adaptations of the series' various segments, including the Brendan Fraser cinematic shit-fest Dudley Do Right, which I'm sure we'll get to shit on some day, and of course, our main event. So let's get this avalanche of awful rolling downhill, shall we?

Randy Quaid tries to get a Canadian moose
to help him get out of the country (c. 2012)

Thirty-five years following their show's cancellation in 1964, Rocket J. "Rocky" Squirrel (June Foray) and Bullwinkle J. Moose (Keith Scott) have been living off the finances of their reruns on TV. That's basically how Matthew Perry lives after the cancellation of F*R*I*E*N*D*S and I dare you to prove me wrong. Their home, Frostbite Falls, has been destroyed by deforestation, Rocky has lost his ability to fly and the show's unseen Narrator now lives with his mother, spending his time narrating his own mundane life... already this movie's level of comedy is getting cheesy. Meanwhile, their archenemies Fearless Leader (Robert "I'm firing my fucking agent" De Niro, Boris Badenov (Jason "I did this for the money" Alexander) and Natasha Fatale (Rene "This will surely kill my career" Russo) have lost power in Pottsylvania following the end of the Cold War. What was Pottsylvania? Basically every 1950s/60s dicatorship America had beef with rolled into one. Boom. However, the three escape to a real-world Hollywood film studio, where they trick executive Minnie Mogul (Yes, the real Janeane Garofalo) into signing a contract giving her rights to the show, transforming the villains from their two-dimensional cel-animated forms into live-action characters.

Six months later, in Washington D.C., a warm-hearted and beautiful FBI agent Karen Sympathy (Piper Perabo) and her superior, Cappy von Trapment (Randy Quaid... before the drama), inform President Signoff that Fearless Leader intends to make himself President of the United States by brainwashing television viewers using his own cable television network named "RBTV" ("Really Bad Television"), which airs mind-numbing programming designed to zombify the public and persuade them to elect him as president. No doubt a 1960s-style cheapshot at mTV. Subltle. Anywho,  Karen is sent to a special lighthouse to bring Rocky and Bullwinkle to the real world by literally greenlighting a film starring the pair... Ugh, I wish I was making that up. She succeeds, with The Narrator being brought along as well but never being physically seen. I guess he just... hides behind the camera? Sure, let's roll with that.

This could arguably either a high-point or a low-point
in each actor's career

Fearless Leader is informed that Rocky and Bullwinkle have returned and sends Boris and Natasha to destroy them. The two spies are given a weapon called the CDI ("Computer Degenerating Imagery"), which removes cartoon characters from the real world by sending them to the Internet. "Where all worthless cyber chumps end up". That line resonates with the youth of today. Karen steals the villains' truck, but is subsequently arrested by an Oklahoma state trooper... a very "John Goodman" looking Oklahoma state trooper... *cough*. Natasha and Boris in-turn steal a helicopter to pursue Rocky and Bullwinkle, who are picked up and given a ride by Martin (Kel Mitchell) and Lewis (Kenan Thompson), two students at Bullwinkle's old university, Wossamotta U. This movie couldn't get anymore cheesy and 90s if it tried. Kenan & Kel show up and just carbon-date the absolute shit out of it. As Bullwinkle receives an honorary "Mooster's Degree" and addresses the student body, Boris attempts to kill him with the CDI from a water tower. Rocky recovers his lost ability to fly and saves the oblivious Bullwinkle.

Martin and Lewis lend the two their car, which Bullwinkle drives to Chicago. Boris and Natasha once again attempt to kill the two, but instead accidentally use the CDI to digitally-delete their helicopter. Oh my goodness, that's pretty good. Meanwhile, Karen escapes prison with the help from a love-struck Swedish guard named Ole (Rod Biermann). Karen, Rocky and Bullwinkle are reunited, but are quickly arrested for various misdemeanors that they have committed during their journey. The three are put on trial, where Bullwinkle inadvertently sabotages their case by cross-examining Karen as the prosecutor, not the defense attorney. However, the presiding Judge Cameo (Whooping "Fuck, they got me too" Goldberg) dismisses their case upon recognizing Rocky and Bullwinkle, stating to the district attorney (Jeff "I wish this was a roast" Ross) that celebrities are above the law. Some real-world smack talk there. I'll bet the writers had Nick Nolte's mugshot on their minds writing that dialogue.


The three obtain a biplane from a man named Old Jeb (played by the same guy who played the helicopter pilot Boris and Natasha stole the helicopter from... because reasons) and evade Boris and Natasha once again. The duo consider quitting their evil occupations and getting married, but are interrupted by a call from Fearless Leader. Afraid to admit they have failed, they lie and tell him they have killed Rocky and Bullwinkle. Fearless Leader initiates his plan, brainwashing the entire country. Meanwhile, the plane is unable to carry the weight of all three aboard. Rocky flies Karen to New York City to stop Fearless Leader, even with one last shot of the World Trade Center before 9/11... which I have no joke for... but is captured. Meanwhile, Bullwinkle accidentally flies the plane to Washington, D.C., confusing it for New York, and crashes on the White House lawn. Surprisingly not getting shot down in the process. To get Bullwinkle to New York in time to stop Fearless Leader, Cappy scans Bullwinkle into the White House's computer and emails him to RBTV's headquarters, where he interrupts the broadcast and save Karen and Rocky. Sure... that works, I won't fight it. The heroes convince the American public to vote for whomever they want, as well as replant Frostbite Falls' trees. Bullwinkle accidentally activates the CDI and zaps Boris, Natasha and Fearless Leader, reverting them back to their two-dimensional animated cartoon forms and banishing them to the Internet once and for all. Where they ironically can be found still today! *Laughs* In the aftermath, RBTV is changed from "Really Bad Television" to "Rocky and Bullwinkle Television". Bullwinkle, even takes a stab at himself and asks "What's the difference?" Karen and Ole start dating, and Rocky, Bullwinkle and The Narrator return home to a rejuvenated Frostbite Falls for the next adventure...

...only there was no next adventure because The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle bombed harder than Baghdad. For some reason, so many people hated this movie and thought it was just a cheap, unfunny cash-in on Rocky and Bullwinkle's leftover marquee value. But I love it. If anything, it's an accurate portrayal of the type of comedy the old TV show was known for. The characters of oddly simplistic and self-explanatory names that fit their personalities and behaviors, Bullwinkle's comically dull, the movie cannot resist and in-fact thrives on the use of puns, fourth-wall and self deprecating humor, and some how... some way... as GOD as witness... they got major stars to appear in the movie to boost it's credibility. Somehow, Robert De Niro not only agree to be in the movie, but was also apparently method acting as Fearless Leader the whole time on set. That is either some serious dedication to one's craft for a cartoon character... or he just snapped and needed a movie to just cash-in and think about his next career move. Jason Alexander was no stranger to that, in fact admitting many times he solely did the movie for the money. 

I love this movie. A lot of people hate it, but I enjoy it. It's my cup of tea. Check-in later and we'll go over a movie everybody else loves that I just would rather blow my brains out before watching... alright maybe not that extreme, but still.

The Lethal Weapon Anthology: A Review of "Lethal Weapon"

In the realm of 80s movies, which I do love endlessly as you've no doubt already well-established, the action movies were some of the most memorable action movies ever made. Among the most well-respected entries in cinema history is the action sub-genre, also a comedy sub-genre; the "Buddy cop" movie. Buddy cop movies have become a common trope as they've developed more and more, pairing two unlike characters together for comedic moments and exchanges, as well as subjecting them to incredible action sequences... many of which would supply even more comedic one-liners if the characters were compelling enough. Of the buddy-cop movies, the most well-known has to be Richard Donner's quadrilogy of action-comedy buddy cop movies... Lethal Weapon. Originally conceived as a largely dark and brutal action movie series, the Lethal Weapon series soon developed into funnier and funnier action movies as the series continued, culminating in probably one of my favorite action movies of all time... Lethal Weapon 4. The Lethal Weapon series has somehow maintained impeccable quality throughout all four films, each one a solid A+ action movie. While the first one is a little depressing and not quite on the happy side of things, the fourth one is a ribald hysterical action thrill ride, and justifiably so. I'm here this month to talk about all four movies... each one just as fun and memorable as the last one. Let's get this started with the first Lethal Weapon from 1987.

Shortly after his 50th birthday, LAPD Homicide Sergeant Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) is partnered with Sergeant Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson), a transfer from narcotics. Riggs, a former Special Forces soldier who lost his wife in a car accident three years prior, has turned suicidal, and has been taking his aggression out on suspects, including a stand off with cocaine smugglers in a Christmas tree lot. This leads his superiors to request his transfer, where they fear if he goes any farther, he could hurt himself or innocent bystanders if he snaps. Murtaugh and Riggs quickly find themselves facing off with each other with disagreeing stances during a scene where Riggs forces a jumper off a roof by handcuffing himself to him, leading Murtaugh to deduce that Riggs really is suicidal.

That's the background gist. The main story begins when Murtaugh is contacted by Michael Hunsaker (Tom Atkins), a Vietnam War buddy and banker, but before they can meet, Murtaugh learns that Hunsaker's daughter, Amanda (Jackie Swanson) apparently committed suicide by jumping from her apartment balcony. Autopsy reports show Amanda to have been poisoned with drain cleaner, making the case a possible homicide. Hunsaker tells Murtaugh that he was concerned about his daughter's involvement in drugs, prostitution, and pornography, and was trying to get Murtaugh to help her escape that life. Murtaugh and Riggs attempt to question Amanda's pimp, but find a drug lab on the premises, leading to a shootout. Riggs kills the pimp and saves the life of Murtaugh, who starts to tolerate his new partner even despite all of his crazy antics. Even though the case seems to have reached its end, Riggs is aware that the only witness to Amanda's apparent suicide was Dixie, another prostitute who was working away from her normal streets. They attempt to question Dixie at her home, but it explodes as they approach it. Riggs finds parts of a mercury switch from bomb debris, indicating a professional had set the bomb, someone with Special Forces training similar to Riggs'; some children who had been nearby even claim to have witnessed a man approach the house with a tattoo similar to the one Riggs has, and Murtaugh suspects Hunsaker is not telling the full story.

A devout Christian kidnaps Mel Gibson following
the release of The Passion of the Christ, c. 2004

Riggs & Murtaugh approach Hunsaker before Amanda's funeral, where he reveals that he had previously been part of "Shadow Company," a heroin-smuggling operation run by former special forces operators from the Vietnam War, masterminded by retired General Peter McAllister (Mitchell Ryan) and his right-hand chief enforcer, Mr. Joshua, played by the commonly insane-looking Gary Busey. Hunsaker had been laundering the money, but wanted to get out, and when McAllister found out he had contacted Murtaugh, the general had Amanda killed in retaliation. As Murtaugh tries to get Hunsaker to reveal everything he knows about Shadow Company, Joshua arrives in a helicopter and kills Hunsaker with some very precise sniper shots. That night, Shadow Company arrives and attempts to kill Riggs in a drive-by shooting, but he is saved by a bulletproof vest. Murtaugh and Riggs fake his murder to gain the upper hand.

Shadow Company later kidnaps Murtaugh's daughter Rianne (Traci Wolfe) and demand that Murtaugh turn himself over to them for her return. Murtaugh and Riggs plan an ambush at the exchange at El Mirage Lake with Riggs providing sniper support, but Riggs is caught by McAllister and the trio are taken to an unknown location. Murtaugh and Riggs are tortured for information, but Riggs manages to overpower the captors, frees Murtaugh and Rianne, and they escape to find themselves at a busy nightclub used as a front for Shadow Company. With their cover blown, McAllister and Joshua attempt to escape separately. Joshua manages to get away, but McAllister's driver is shot by Murtaugh, causing the general's car to veer out of control and get struck by a bus on Hollywood Boulevard, and McAllister is killed when a fire causes hand grenades in the car to detonate. Murtaugh and Riggs race back to Murtaugh's house, knowing that Joshua will come after his family for revenge. They arrive in time to prevent him, and Riggs beats Joshua in a violent brawl on the front lawn, letting Joshua take "a shot at the title" as Riggs puts it. As backup officers arrive to take Joshua into custody, he breaks free and steals a gun from one of the patrolmen, but Murtaugh and Riggs pull their guns and shoot Joshua dead in one wild shot. After visiting his wife's grave, Riggs spends Christmas with the Murtaughs, having become best friends with Murtaugh and bonding with the rest of the family. Riggs also gives Murtaugh a symbolic gift: a hollow-point bullet which he had been saving to commit suicide, as he does not need it anymore...

Lethal Weapon is a stone-cold classic of an action movie. While it is the most serious and least-funny of the four of them, it still holds up as being a nail-biter of a mystery-thriller. There's some trace amounts of comedy, but again, it is more of a serious movie, dealing with plot lines involving suicide and mental health. The action scenes are masterfully put together, including the sniper support scene in the desert, and the escape from the Shadow Company front is pretty stellar too. The "shot at the title" fist fight on the Murtaugh front lawn is a little awkwardly cut, but you still get the feeling of a "final battle" as you would from a video game. I also didn't really know what the point of the 'Rianne crush on Riggs' arc was for, but I guess it was just one of those innocent teenage crushes in 1987. Nowadays, people might cock their heads at it funny. Tastes have changed, I guess. The movie even comes accompanied with some interesting soft, yet memorable music. A saxophone wail becomes synonymous with these movies once you watch them, and this first one is no exception. There's even a track known as "Riggs' theme", composed by guitar playing legend Eric Clapton.

Danny Glover and Mel Gibson developed perfect chemistry for on-screen banter together, teaming together again three more times... even once more for a humorous tribute cameo in Donner's other Gibson-led flick, Maverick. The movie plays like Die Hard in that it's an action movie that makes you think it's a Christmas movie, even opening with the familiar "Jingle Bell Rock" and ending with shot of the Murtaugh's house at Christmas time with snow on the ground. It's an absolutely badass movie, and each of the three sequels follow suit. If anything, they get better and better. Stay tuned as we press on and look at a guy who knows all about "diplomatic immunity"...