Wizards And Worriers: Lethal Weapon (1987)

Lethal Weapon

Starring: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey

Writer: Shane Black

Director: Richard Donner

The Story:

Some fucked up half naked chick takes a dive off a high rise building, which results in her body Hulk-smashing the hell out of the car she lands on. Dead, of course. The following day, homicide detective Roger Murtaugh is celebrating the ripe old age of 50. He misses a call from an old friend whom he hasn't talked to in over a decade. Before he can get in touch with him, he is called to the scene of the fucked up half naked chick's demise. Once he arrives, Murtaugh learns that the jumper is his old friend's daughter. Meanwhile, narcotics detective Martin Riggs is living in severe depression after the death of his wife. He lives in a camper beach side, drinks beer for breakfast, breaks his TV when he doesn't like the shit it spews, etc... He is a mess, and while on the job, it just simply doesn't matter to him if he dies in the process of getting the bad guys. After a drug bust, Riggs gets transferred to homicide and is partnered up with Murtaugh. The combination is like mixing milk with fucking orange juice. As it turns out, the death of Murtaugh's friend's daughter is a homicide, and he's determined to get to the bottom of it... with his new batshit crazy partner.

The Rant:

Lethal Weapon is the epitome of a perfect buddy cop film. We got a great story by Shane Black and some epic directing from Richard Donner. Combined, this makes an action movie just under two hours filled to the brim with intense chases, fights, explosions, and some grand performances to even it all out. It is fucking flawless. Instead of doing a straight review for this classic, I'm gonna start by spending some time picking out some moments that make this such a great film.

The movie does a fantastic job right from the get go at defining whom Riggs and Murtaugh are and how different they are as people, as well as cops. Straight away, it is evident that Murtaugh is a loving family man, and a by the books detective. Riggs has nobody; doesn't care about his well being and gives not a single fuck about the rules. This is displayed in full during the an early scene, where Riggs shows up at the sight of a sniper shooting at cops and children from a building window. Riggs walks right up to the line of fire with his gun out and an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips. He even goes as far as talking shit to the sniper in order to get a good shot at him. This scene is epically acted and well shot, with split focus shots of Riggs' gun and the window from where the sniper is shooting.

The Xmas tree lot drug bust further displays just how fucking nuts Riggs is, where he plays dumb with the dealers and even slaps and pokes at their eyes in Three Stooges fashion. You just simply have to love this shit.

The jumper scene. A portrayal of Riggs doing whatever the fuck he has to in order to get the job done. This is the moment that shows just how on edge the character is, and how worrisome Murtaugh is for having to work with him.

The shooting range scene with Riggs and Murtaugh. A freakin' epic moment in where Murtaugh gets shown the fuck up. This is also an early indication of what their relationship will ultimately be, executed with funny dialog and great performances from Glover and Gibson.

All the action scenes in Lethal Weapon still hold up, but not enough can be said about the finishing moments of this film. I'm talking about everything after Riggs and Murtaugh are captured and tortured. Before this, the movie for sure has many a great moment, but after the abduction of Murtaugh's daughter, it's full on fucking amazing. The break from their captivity leads to a completely awesome chase scene with Riggs on foot after Mr. Joshua in a car through streets crowded with cars of most likely holiday travelers. But no words can really describe how great the fight between Riggs and Mr. Joshua is in the finale. The setting: Murtaugh's front yard under the spraying water of a broken fire hydrant. Actually, calling it “great” is a fucking vast understatement. That shit is every bit as good as fight scenes in today's movies. It's not on a They Live Roddy Piper/Keith David level of awesome, but it's awesome nonetheless.

Onto acting- I don't know what the shit is up with Mel Gibson these days and I don't really care. It holds no bearings on how I feel about his performances in many fantastic movies. In Lethal Weapon, he is so on point that it should be illegal. Gibson excels in portraying Riggs' sorrow, crazy antics and his selflessness. There's a lot of sad shit going on. In particular, a moment in which Riggs is contemplating suicide over the anguish of his wife's death. The scene is intense (made all the more unnerving by a close up shot of Riggs loading a hollow point bullet into his gun), and the background of Looney Tunes Christmas cartoons on his TV make it all the more depressing. Gibson kills it, and that's all that can be said. Danny Glover is equally awesome as Murtaugh, an aging detective hinting towards retirement (with all of his “I'm too old for this shit” lines). Gibson and Glover work so damn well together, in scenes where they are screaming at one another, as well as when their characters start to gel. Everybody portraying Murtaugh's family is great, too. The tightly knit relationships are truly believable, thanks to moments like the dinner table rap, where Murtaugh's kids rhyme about the oldest daughter crushing over Riggs.

There's so much beef put into the characters of Murtaugh and Riggs that it makes everyone else pretty secondary. This is not a complaint; I'm just saying that the movie is ultimately THEM. You can never get enough Tom Atkins, and here he is in Lethal Weapon in all of his mustached glory. His facial hair earns him no poontang points here as it did in Halloween III, and the suaveness he used in The Fog to get into Jamie Lee Curtis' pants is nonexistent. He plays the father of the drugged out jumper from the beginning of the film. Sadly, he's not too likeable, but it's still a good, albeit, small performance. Garey Busey plays Riggs' main adversary, Mr. Joshua, and he's equally as fucked as his opponent. The difference is that he is just a lapdog of a superior bad guy (played by Mitch Ryan). A limited performance, but damn good for what it is.

Lethal Weapon's film score is fucking awesome. Murtaugh gets the sounds of a smooth ass saxophone (thanks to David Sanborn) whenever he shows up on screen, and Riggs is accompanied by some awesome bluesy type shit from the great Eric Clapton. All that and a handful of Xmas tunes to nail the season in stone. Bobby Helms' Jingle Bell Rock and Elvis Presley's I'll Be Home For Christmas fit perfectly.

Ultimately, you just can't ask for a better buddy cop action film than Lethal Weapon.

Awesomeness:

Murtaugh's bad ass beard. Sadly, this beast only makes a cameo.

Riggs' hair! Gibson pimps this shit out in many movies.

Mr. Joshua's burning arm as a sign of loyalty. Gah, fuck me silly! I saw a guy do this to himself in the center of a most pit at a Sepultura concert. Ouch.