Review of Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) by Dylan W — 15 Jul 2016

A common trope in film sequels is the addition of new characters - Lethal Weapon 2 is no exception. It's just as good as the first one in terms of the actual film but its atmosphere at times feels like a sequel, by which I mean, it definitely feels like the second time around for the franchise and there's more to go from here.

Riggs and Murtaugh return in the second Lethal Weapon installment to stop South African diplomats from their money laundering schemes, as well as protect a klutzy former criminal named Leo Getz, who serves as the comedic aspect of the film.

Lethal Weapon 2 in a lot of aspects is actually better than the first, but not all the way through. The first does a better job in introducing our characters - this one, like I said, feels like a sequel for Riggs and Murtaugh, like a TV series advertising what will happen in next week's episode - eventually putting characters into a dozen different scenarios will get old fast if the franchise keeps going more than it should. The sequel though has the notable addition of Joe Pesci as Leo Getz, who continues to be the comedic character in the rest of the films - it's just a taste here that in sequels Pesci will dominate screen time. He's funny as long as he isn't overused, which I can sense later on but it is well balanced here. A lot of badass action sequences, the sequel is more engaging and thrilling than the first. The ending fight scenes are compelling and never stop amusing, while the first film's fight scenes are great but don't deliver hardly as much. Lethal Weapon 2 is great, it is humorous, engaging, and doesn't follow the rule of making a bad sequel off of a good film, but I've heard the rest of the movies get continuously worse...