Lethal Weapon

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Christmas 2019

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'Lethal Weapon' is a movie that doesn't need a lot of introduction. If 'Die Hard' is the grandfather of modern action movies, than this is the grandfather of buddy cop movies. Much like 'Die Hard', it takes place at Christmastime, but when all said and done 'Die Hard' has more Christmas elements to it.

For me, this is a bit more of an action movie where Christmas is going on in the background, with very little Christmas elements going for it. Still though, it's a fun one to add to the list of unconventional Christmas films, because it's still a legendary action movie, released back in a time when action movies had a certain pizazz to them.

'Lethal Weapon' introduces us to two very different men. Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) is a by-the-book cop, and family man, living one day at a time. Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) is an over-reactive cop who is claimed to be suicidal, living his cop life on the edge. The pair are reluctantly put together to solve the murder of a banker's daughter. In their investigation, they uncover a group of drug smugglers headed by "The General" (Mitchell Ryan) who employ ex-military mercs. It's only a matter of time until things become personal, and the action flies through the roof on a super fun, now completely nostalgic roller coaster ride. Riggs and Murtaugh also have to learn how to trust each other through the whole process.

It's not all just mindless action though. I have to appreciate that as soon as we see Riggs as a bit of a loser, we can empathize with him, learning very little information. We catch him in a scene near the beginning, holding a picture of his wife, and really breaking down about missing her. We dunno what happened yet, we just click towards empathy for someone we probably come into it not liking all too much. It makes Riggs one of the more interesting action stars of the time, while other movies are checkered with Schwarzeneggers and Stallones as bad ass action heroes. He's a good dude, he's just off the handle.

Murtaugh is pretty entertaining too, but in a different way. He's the one who made the phrase "I'm too old for this shit" famous, and I appreciate that through this movie, even though he's the by-the-book guy, he goes full bad ass by the end of things. I absolutely love this movie's climax, it's everything an old school action movie should be in that regard, especially Murtaugh's standoff with a speeding car, and Rigg's fist fight with Mr. Gary Busey, who's basically the General's right hand thug. It's strange to say it, but it's seemingly rare nowadays to just have that man-to-man, street fight anymore. I think it peaked with 'Fight Club', but correct me if there's anything that stands out after that.

Anyway, it's an easy one to close off with a very positive review. I haven't seen it in a couple of years, and this time around, I felt that nostalgia hit me, not so much for the movie itself, but for the entire classic 80s action genre. Nowadays, action movies have mostly been taken over by superheroes, the 'John Wick' and 'Fallen' series, and not a whole hell of a lot more. There was something about 80s action movies that suggest a sort of freedom, as back in those days, our critics were Siskel, Ebert, Leonard Malten, and just a handful of others. It wasn't an entire internet pointing out everything wrong about something. The 80s were a time where people were allowed to enjoy things without much ridicule, and these are the people I try to speak to the most with my reviews. 'Lethal Weapon' might represent most of the action cliches of the time, but dammit, that's what made it so awesome. Come to think of it, it actually invented some of those cliches. Again, legendary.

​5/5

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